Exceeding the speed limit is probably the most common law violation among drivers. Yet, only a small proportion of all traffic violators are detected, i.e. the objective risk of being apprehended is usually very low. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, inappropriate speed is responsible for more than a third of all fatal accidents occurring on Austrian roads. Measures to reduce the percentage of speeders would therefore amount in a significant reduction of both casualty accidents and severity of injuries. Speed limits are usually set in accordance with road conditions, traffic volume, proximity to sensitive areas, such as residential areas and schools, and a host of other factors. Motorists are expected to obey posted speed limits at all times. Traditional manual and stationary speed enforcement methods are limited in their effects and require a lot of human resources. Automatic speed enforcement on the other hand is intended to provide enhanced capacity for enforcement by applying technical solutions that do not require the presence of police officers at the scene of an offense. Systems for automatic speed enforcement (including Section Control) are designed to detect and identify traffic violators automatically. Identification is solely based on photographs of the vehicle or the driver, respectively. (Author/publisher)
Abstract