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Spy in the sky: Drones will be monitoring roads in Spain to catch bad drivers

The Local Spain
The Local Spain - [email protected]
Spy in the sky: Drones will be monitoring roads in Spain to catch bad drivers
Drones will join helicopters in monitoring Spain's roads from the air. Photo: DGT

Today (August 1st) sees the start of a new initiative by Spain’s traffic authority – to use drones to catch drivers flouting traffic laws or driving too fast.

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A total of 11 drones will be patrolling the skies above Spain’s busiest roads focusing on accident blackspots, including zones where cyclists, pedestrians and motorcyclists are deemed to be most at risk.

The remote controlled drones will photograph offenders from the air and then notifications and penalties will be sent to the corresponding owner once they have been matched with details of the vehicle.

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If serious infractions are recorded, the vehicle may be pulled over by traffic police after being alerted through the drone footage.

En la II #OperaciónSalidaDGT los #drones vigilarán el tráfico y denunciarán las infracciones en tramos con mayor riesgo de accidentalidad, ctras. con mayor tránsito de vulnerables: #ciclistas #motociclistas y #peatones , y supervisarán #distracciones #QueremosQueVuelvas ? pic.twitter.com/OEF25kIBhu

— Dir. Gral. Tráfico (@DGTes) August 1, 2019

The pilotless aircraft will be on the look out, not only for speeding drivers but for those breaking rules such as using their mobile phones at the wheel.

It is unlikely that drivers will be even be aware of the drones as they operate at an altitude of up to 120 metres and are equipped with high-definition cameras that have a range of vision up to 7km.

But they can only operate within 500meters range of the controls for a duration of up to 20 minutes.

 The drones will also be used to assist in monitoring the roads for potential trouble and help in emergency situations caused by accidents or extreme weather conditions.

The DGT added drones to their monitoring strategy last year and now have eight of their own. Three more drones usually tasked with recording weather conditions have been borrowed from the meteorological agency during the busy summer exodus dubbed Operacion Salida that sees some 90 million people on the road over the summer period.

READ MORE Driving in Spain: Everything you need to know about Operación Salida

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