Skip to main content

New technologies to aid drivers in poor visibility

Abu Dhabi traffic police are to introduce an electronic weather system to alert motorists of fog, rain, and visibility problems ahead. Dense fog is a major problem for motorists across the country in the winter months. Heavy dust storms in summer also affect visibility. The system uses the latest technology and combines the tracking systems, patrols distribution information, traffic accident analysis system, and smart traffic awareness system of the Smart Traffic System Centre at the Abu Dhabi Police and T
March 7, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Abu Dhabi traffic police are to introduce an electronic weather system to alert motorists of fog, rain, and visibility problems ahead.  Dense fog is a major problem for motorists across the country in the winter months. Heavy dust storms in summer also affect visibility.

The system uses the latest technology and combines the tracking systems, patrols distribution information, traffic accident analysis system, and smart traffic awareness system of the Smart Traffic System Centre at the Abu Dhabi Police and Traffic Directorate (STSC) with variable message signs (VMS).

Brigadier Engineer Hussain Ahmad Al Harthi, director of Abu Dhabi Police Traffic and Patrols Directorate, said the STSC will work with weather sensors to receive reports from the National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS).

“The STSC will help us determine the number of patrol cars to be dispatched and distributed accordingly across the capital. Meanwhile, VMS will broadcast to drivers the new temporary speed limits for this period of time,” he said.

He said that the new system will also help the police to react quickly to accidents and incidents that may follow to prevent pile-ups on the roads.

Al Harthi said that the Directorate has launched some twenty traffic programmes in recent months in a bid to raise public awareness on road safety. The initiatives aim to increase public education on issues such as the importance of wearing seat belts, reducing speeds, respecting pedestrians, maintaining safe distances between vehicles among other concerns.

Related Content

  • December 3, 2015
    Variable speed limits to warn of adverse weather on British Columbia highways
    Variable speed signs are being installed on sections of the Coquihalla, Trans-Canada and Sea to Sky highways in Canada, as part of a US$9.4 million pilot project to help reduce the frequency of weather-related crashes.
  • May 9, 2019
    Virginia Tech reveals vested interest
    New ITS systems on either side of the Atlantic – such as an intriguing piece of connected clothing – aim to reduce the casualty toll among road maintenance personnel, says Alan Dron t’s not a lot of fun working on road maintenance or road construction worksites. By definition, you’re out in all weathers. You’re not popular with motorists, who blame you for hold-ups. It’s frequently physically arduous. And, worst of all, the sector has an unenviable record of injuries - even fatalities. Often working jus
  • October 28, 2016
    New solutions for catching texting drivers
    Many countries have laws prohibiting texting while driving but enforcement is proving difficult – David Crawford looks at some new approaches being tried by authorities. Finding definitive solutions – technological, regulatory and educational - to the potentially lethal practice of people driving while using mobile phones is proving elusive, while the stakes grow higher.
  • December 4, 2012
    ITS World Congress debates perceptions of enforcement
    The technical programme of this year’s ITS World Congress in Vienna includes a special session on the image of enforcement. ITS International examines the scale of the problem and what can be done about it. Debate on the merits and difficulties of enforcing speed limits appears centred on a conflict of principles. Put very simply, local communities, people living close to busy or hazardous roads, want to see traffic speeds calmed. Drivers on those roads, on the whole, want their principle of freedom to be m