Czech Police Is Deploying Drones to Monitor Traffic Violations

It is very common in countries all over the world for motorists to break laws and then get pulled over by police officers.

But often drivers escape from the eyes of the officers standing on the roads or cover up for their illegal driving behaviour as soon as they see an officer.

Not in the Czech Republic, where drivers are being tracked from the sky using drones, in order to crack down on traffic violations such as speeding and failing to keep a safe distance.

For the time being the operation is merely aimed at collecting data on the state of road safety, but eventually, drivers will be fined for failing to keep a safe distance on the road.

Once the images from a drone are reviewed, a summons is issued to the driver with the corresponding photo or video clip.

The devices are cheaper than the helicopters the agency had usually used to monitor drivers. Drones are better at keeping an eye on drivers around cyclists and pedestrians and in areas where flying helicopters is riskier.

The drones have a surveillance range of 4km but need to be kept within the line of sight of the operators.