Smart cameras to tackle smart phones in drivers' hands

ROADPOL member, the Netherlands, first in Europe to snap texting and chatting violators on the road

The smart cameras, here on a viaduct over the A28, that are used to monitor traffic for calling and app using motorists. IMAGE ANP

Smart cameras will clamp on texting, app using and calling drivers.
The unique for Europe measure is set to be introduced by the Public Prosecution on Traffic (CVOM) in the Netherlands.

Until now agents tackled the violations by intercepting drivers to the side of the road, requiring a lot of personnel capacity. Still, within just the last year more than 120,000 tickets were handed to drivers holding a phone behind the wheel, data from Institute for Road Safety Research shows.

“If the new smart cameras run all year round, that number will easily double. They see everything”, says national traffic prosecutor Achilles Damen. During the test period in just 6 hours two cameras shot more than four hundred drivers fidgeting a phone while driving - good for fines for almost 100,000 euro.

Visibility
CVOM agents mount the cameras on overhead passes on highways. Thus due to the high

World Day of Remembrance for road traffic victims

World Day of Remembrance for road traffic victims - 15.11.2020 ROADPOL supports the 25th WDoR with a video message of his President Volker Orben. For more information visit https://worlddayofremembrance.org/ and see #WDR2020 and @WDRemembrance

Police catches speeders from customized toilet

The unit Midden-Nederland of the Dutch National Police have come up with a new way to hide flash equipment: in a mobile toilet.

After a road has been built or reconstructed by the road authority, it is not finished.

Roads need regular maintenance, such as mowing the roadsides or pruning bushes and trees, as well as freshening up or adjusting road markings and repairing crash barriers.

This must of course be done in a way that is as safe as possible for road workers.

On the Waterlinieweg, a provincial road in Utrecht, it has become apparent in recent years that this safety is being compromised.

Also this time, the police traffic specialist for the city of Utrecht was approached by the province to see if the police could help.

The traffic specialist asked the Traffic Enforcement Team to monitor the speed during the maintenance, but only if work was actually taking place. We have done this several times, for example by the use of laser (cam) and the use of the radar. In this case, both the radar and the laser operator were placed in a customized “Dixi” (a mobile toilet). In this way we were completely absorbed in the work and were not noticed. A form of smarter enforcement.
During the work, the normal maximum speed of 70 km/h was reduced to 50 km/h.
In one week, 143 fines were issued for exceeding the speed limit.

This commitment was greatly appreciated by the road workers, they were able to complete the work quickly and safely.

   A speed camera is hidden in this mobile toilet © skoften.net                                       © PolitieNL

ROADPOL Conference 14 – 15 September 2020

Due to the Corona situation the scheduled ROADPOL Conference in March 2020 had to be cancelled. We all had the hope to meet each other in Germany in September 2020 to hold the first ROADPOL elections. But again this conference had to be cancelled too. For the first time, the meetings of the Operational Working Group and the Council were held digitally. This posed particular challenges as elections were to be held for the first time.

Not everything worked perfectly. Some members were unable to attend for various technical reasons or holidays. But in the end 23 members came together and elected the new ROADPOL Council for the first time.

The conference started with the digital meeting of the Operational Working Group (OPG) on 14 September. 

After the former Chair of OPG, Egbert-Jan van Hasselt, had left due to his retirement, the members elected Marijke Eskes (Netherlands) as their new Chair of OPG by an overwhelming majority of 96%.
Marijke ESKES has been Vice-Chair of OPG since the days of TISPOL and is highly respected in the ROADPOL family. By her election Marijke automatically becomes a member of the ROADPOL Executive Committee according to ROADPOL's statutes.

OPG had an exchange of views on the impact of the Corona virus on traffic police work.
Then the members adopted the Wallplanner 2021 with all dates for the planned ROADPOL operations 2021.

On Tuesday 15 September, the ROADPOL Council met for the first time, also virtually.

The elections of the ROADPOL Executive Committee were on the agenda. According to the statutes, the TISPOL Executive Committee, elected in 2019, had continued its work in the newly established ROADPOL until the first official ROADPOL elections.

First of all, the members expressed their confidence in Volker Orben and elected him unanimously as the new ROADPOL President. Volker Orben (Germany) had taken on the difficult task of transforming the former TISPOL Network into a new independent association, ROADPOL e.V.

Sanja Veic (Croatia) was elected as Vice-President