This paper explains the need for automatic enforcement, and reviews: (1) applications of automatic enforcement. Automatic enforcement has been carried out for about 20 years. Despite this, the number of scientific and experimental studies dealing with the effects of automatic traffic enforcement appeared to be very scant and even rarer than the number of countries testing it; (2) the effects of automatic enforcement on red light violations and accidents in: Sweden, Great Britain, Australia and Singapore; and (3) the effects of automatic enforcement on speed and accidents in a number of countries, particularly in the Netherlands. The paper shows that automatic enforcement needs to be supported by the application of other measures such as information campaigns and warning signs. The technical and tactical methods used for automatic enforcement are a matter of concern for many reasons, for instance: a) Photographs should be used to identify a vehicle only, not a driver; and b) the system is vulnerable to vandalism. It is expected now that the judicial process is the only part of traffic enforcement that cannot be automated in the future.
Abstract