With the second phase of Operation Summer Exit underway, the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) has announced that, after the trial period in which the traffic control drones have been operating experimentally in recent months, they will begin to sanction the infractions that they capture since August 1.
What will be the “tasks” of the drones?
They have been assigned primarily to traffic surveillance on those roads with a higher accident rate or with a higher traffic of vulnerable users (such as pedestrians, cyclists or motorcyclists). In the same way, drones will be able to pursue distractions while driving and will be used as an active tool for monitoring and supporting regulation in operations and special events , together with existing DGT helicopters and helping in situations where possible. emergencies in which urgent intervention is necessary.
Drone Features
The small aircraft are remotely controlled from the ground by operators specifically trained by the DGT and complete the surveillance of the helicopters on more than 160,000 kilometers of roads in the national territory . The operational altitude of these drones is up to 120 meters. Its autonomy is 20 minutes, its radius of action of 500 meters and, of course, they are equipped with high definition cameras with a vision range of up to seven kilometers.
Can a drone fine?
That’s how it is; although, at the moment, not all. The DGT currently has eleven drones, but only three of them have been certified by the Spanish Metrology Center, so only these three have the power to sanction or impose fines during this month of August. The eight remaining drones can only be used to monitor and assist in traffic control until they are duly homologated and can fine with a guarantee. Traffic has also reported that 20 more units will join the drone fleet soon.
Infractions captured by drones may be notified on the spot by an agent of the Civil Guard Traffic Grouping or may also be processed later as if it were a road radar, frame of the infraction through. Of course, the DGT has not commented on whether the drones will be able to fine speeding, something that its twelve Pegasus helicopters do.
As explained by the DGT in its traffic safety guidelines for the summer, this year there will be many more agents from the Civil Guard Traffic Group, special emphasis will be placed on using road cameras to monitor seatbelt use and from the mobile to the wheel and even camouflaged vehicles will be used to minimize possible infractions as much as possible. In addition, eight new radars have come into operation for this month of August on conventional roads , six of them stretch, in order to monitor the speed of vehicles on these roads.
Be very careful in August
Taking into account the delicate driving involved in the start of August, as always, the DGT recommends avoiding the busiest hours, that is, between eight in the morning and three in the afternoon this Thursday.
9 million long-distance trips are expected in Spain, double the usual number these days, and a total of 47 million are expected for the entire month of August, 1.57% more than those made in the same month of 2018 .
