| Technology Profile
Making roads safer with
advanced enforcement
Above: New enforcement
solutions can detect in-car
mobile phone use
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March/April 2020 Traffic Technology International
www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
067
In 2017, 100,000 people were
hurt in urban road collisions
with an additional 9,500 lives
lost in the EU alone.
Pedestrians, cyclists and
motorcyclists are among the
most vulnerable road users and
represent 70% of fatalities and
those seriously injured on urban
roads in Europe. Furthermore,
in Europe, the average driver
(depending on the country)
involved in these incidents is
between 35% – 75% over the
speed limit.
In 1993, an independent nonprofit
organization was founded
called the European Transport
Safety Council (ETSC) to help
significantly reduce the number
of road collisions in the EU.
ETSC provides impartial
expert advice on transport
safety matters to the European
Commission, the European
Parliament, and Member States.
ETSC also delivers up-to-date
information supporting high
safety standards, best practices
and transport safety research.
Dovilė Adminaitė-Fodor,
an ETSC spokesperson says,
“As long as people don’t feel
| Need to know
The primary functions
of Idemia’s new TLES
(traffic law enforcement
system) MESTAcompact
> Capable of detecting incabin
violations such as
mobile phone use and
failure to wear a seat belt
> Also able to detect
complex forbidden
trajectories of vehicles
> Has the ability to classify
eight different types
of vehicle
safe walking and cycling in
our towns and cities, many
will be discouraged from using
the most sustainable modes
of transport.
This can create a vicious
circle because people who take
the car put all the vulnerable
road users around them at
greater risk.
“Over the next 10 years,
we want to see the EU and all
European countries investing
in urban transport in a way that
prioritizes the most vulnerable
road users.
This is not just about safer
infrastructure and setting safe
speed limits, but also better
enforcement of speed limits as
well as reducing drink driving
and distraction.”
Detecting in-car behaviour
The most advanced traffic law
enforcement systems (TLES)
use monitoring algorithms
capable of detecting in-cabin
behaviour and multiple driving
violations simultaneously.
This includes offences
such as not wearing a seatbelt,
using a phone while driving,
speeding, running a red
light etc.
As TLES interface regionally
and even nationally, it is now
possible to calculate the average
speed of a vehicle.
If a vehicle was caught
constantly speeding over a 20km
radius, then the person could be
flagged as a dangerous driver.
By installing TLES,
governments are investing in
the future of people, as fewer
collisions mean less people
killed and injured in traffic
related impacts.
Innovations such as in-cabin
vision enable governments to
identity dangerous behaviours.
They can then focus on teaching
drivers to continually respect
regulations, helping instil good
driving behaviours for the long
term and then save many lives.
Until recently, it was almost
impossible to get a clear image
inside a vehicle, so much so that
people sometimes contested
speeding tickets, claiming
they were not the driver.
With the current image
enhancement system, it is easy
to capture a great quality in
cabin image, even through the
windscreen with a strong glare.
Deep learning techniques
Using innovative deep learning
techniques, TLES can also
classify up to eight different
types of vehicle. Whereas,
previous systems would not
register a driving offence if
they were unable to recognize
the vehicle model.
The advantages of TLES
are manifold and an increasing
number of local authorities are
using them as pedagogical tools.
Frequently rotating decoy
and active TLES in urban areas,
allows authorities to ensure
good driving behaviour at
all times. For example, for
every operational camera,
there could be four decoy
systems that would be swapped
at regular intervals without
drivers realising.
Idemia
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