Use of unmanned aerial vehicles to detect traffic violations in Russia

2021

The use of drones for fines for oncoming roads off the Black Sea

On July 9, 2021, the traffic police announced the beginning of the use of drones off the Black Sea coast to identify violations associated with entering the oncoming lane. The launch of unmanned aerial vehicles is carried out together with the regional departments of the Russian Guard.

According to the website of the traffic police, raid measures to identify traffic violators using drones are carried out on sections of the Anapa-Sukko and Yurovka-Raevskaya-Novorossiysk roads. For several days of work five violations of traffic regulations of the Russian Federation according to Part 4 of Article 12.15 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offences (departure in defiance of traffic regulations on the side of the road intended for oncoming traffic) and one violation of traffic regulations of the Russian Federation according to Part 5 of Article 12.15 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offences (repeated commission of the administrative offense provided by Part 4 of Article 12.15 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offences) are stopped.

On the roads near the Black Sea, the traffic police uses UAVs for fines for traffic violations associated with going to the oncoming lane

With the help of drones, police can record traffic violations within a radius of several kilometers. The department added that aircraft monitor the situation on roads of regional and federal significance. At the first stage, UAVs record only oncoming, but their functionality allows you to detect other violations.

The drone saves the video to the operator's hard drive. When inspectors stop the car, the driver is shown a record that is stored in the cloud. This video is subsequently copied to an optical disk and attached to the case as evidence to the protocol on traffic violations.

The traffic police also noted that driving into the oncoming lane is the most common cause of traffic accidents in which passengers and drivers are seriously injured. For this offense, administrative liability is provided in the form of deprivation of the right to manage for a period of up to 6 months or a fine of 5 thousand rubles.^[1]

Traffic police showed how to use drones to detect exit to the oncoming

In May 2021, the traffic police in the Republic of Adygea spoke about how unmanned aerial vehicles are used to detect traffic violations.

According to the website of the Adygea traffic police, the use of drones allows you to control a section of the road up to 10 km long, 5 km each way from the patrol car. If the device notices a car that has left for the oncoming lane, it will carry out an "auto grab" and will monitor the intruder until the police stop him.

Traffic police in the Republic of Adygea showed how to use drones to detect exit to the oncoming

At the same time, the video recording, which recorded the violation and the path of the car up to the stop, is stored on the hard drive of the drone operator. When the car stops, the recording is shown to the driver. This video is subsequently copied to an optical disk and attached to the case as evidence to the protocol on traffic violations. On the official website of the regional department appeared a frame demonstrating the "vision" of the drone.

It is alleged that in sections of roads where the use of aircraft of the special forces detachment of the Russian Guard was carried out, no accidents were recorded during their use. As a result of the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in January-May 2021, 45 administrative offenses related to driving into the oncoming lane were identified.

The traffic police note that the launches are carried out together with the special aviation detachment of the Republican Directorate of the Russian Guard on the use of unmanned aerial vehicles.

By May 2021, the traffic police has been using drones in different regions of Russia for several years. Earlier, the department also reported on the possible use of an unmanned vehicle for the exam for obtaining a driver's license.^[2]

Traffic violators in Russia began to be caught using drones

Testing of drones to monitor compliance with traffic rules on the roads in some constituent entities of Russia began back in 2011-2012, but their use was not of a mass nature and was not regulated. In the regulation on the supervision of compliance with road safety requirements, released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 2009, and its later versions, the use of drones was not prescribed.

From April 1, 2017, a new regulation on traffic supervision is expected to enter into force, in which many innovations have appeared. The draft document was held public discussions at the beginning of the year. It indicates that unmanned aerial vehicles can be used in the supervision of traffic. This, and successful examples of tests that took place earlier, create the prerequisites for a larger use of this technology in the fight against traffic violators on the roads.

One of the first examples of the introduction of drones into the activities of traffic police on an ongoing basis is the Krasnoyarsk Territory. In March 2017, the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the region reported that the local traffic inspectorate began to control traffic on intercity routes using unmanned aerial vehicles. In the Krasnoyarsk Territory, it is planned to regularly conduct raids using such equipment on difficult sections of regional and federal routes, they say in the regional Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

During the raids, the drone from a height of up to 500 meters notes everything that happens on the road and transmits the image online to the ground control station. The aircraft leads the intruder along the track until the traffic police inspector stops.

How unmanned aerial vehicles control traffic on high-speed highways in the Krasnoyarsk Territory

During the first raid, the drone camera recorded violations related to the exit to the lane intended for oncoming traffic. For 2 hours of special operation on the P255 Sibir highway in the Berezovsky district, traffic inspectors compiled 16 protocols for leaving the oncoming lane, recorded using an unmanned "air patrol."

Using drones, traffic police inspectors have the opportunity to quickly identify a vehicle posing a threat and stop emergency traffic violations, the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Krasnoyarsk Territory notes.

Among the promising capabilities of unmanned "air patrols" are their use when looking for a stolen car, especially hidden in a closed area where law enforcement agencies do not have access, or when trying to escape from the scene of a crime, for example, after hitting a pedestrian. To search for a stolen car, for example, back in 2012, drones were tested in Bronnitsy near Moscow.

Over the past years, experiments and tests of drones to monitor compliance with traffic rules on the roads have been carried out in a number of regions. True, not all of them subsequently reported what development these projects received in the future.

In 2014, in the Tyumen region, an unmanned aerial vehicle was tested for catching enthusiasts on the sidelines. Raids were carried out on the Yalutorovsky tract in the area of ​ ​ the bridge over the railway crossing and on the Tyumen-Borovsky-Bogandinsky highway. Riding on the sidelines in conditions of congestion takes on a massive character and causes a public outcry, noted in the local Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In 2015, unmanned aerial vehicles in experimental mode began to be attracted to control traffic in the Far East: on the suburban routes Khabarovsk - Vladivostok and Khabarovsk - Komsomolsk-on-Amur. The camera of the aircraft from a height of about 300 meters recorded everything that happens on the road. In only two sorties, the aircraft revealed five cars that overtook through a solid marking line. Drivers driving those cars were brought to administrative responsibility.

Drone used in the Khabarovsk Territory

In 2016, during the holiday season, on the Khabarovsk-Vladivostok highway, they strengthened control over road safety using drones. Annually, at the height of the holiday season, traffic on this highway increases many times, along with this, the number of traffic accidents is noticeably growing, explained in the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Khabarovsk Territory.

In 2015, they also tested an unmanned aerial vehicle to monitor compliance with traffic rules in the Republic of Adygea. During the day of testing, the drone helped identify dozens of violators on the Maykop - Guzeripl federal highway. The main emphasis in this region was on the use of the aircraft to detect the facts of entering the oncoming lane and violation of overtaking rules. According to police, during the movement, drivers do not distinguish an unmanned aerial vehicle from a bird.

The traffic police department in Adygea at the same time talked about plans to use aircraft throughout the republic. They are especially relevant with the advent of the holiday season, so at this time the flow of motorists-tourists who go to the mountains increases sharply.

Then, in 2015, a batch of unmanned aerial vehicles appeared in service with the traffic police in the Sverdlovsk region. Before the "release from the nest" in the present raid, the devices were tested for several months. In their first practical flight, drones made it possible to identify several gross traffic violations at once on one of the busiest routes in the Middle Urals. As often happens in such cases, drivers stopped by a traffic police outfit first declared innocence, but when they were informed about the video recording of the violation, they admitted it.

In 2016, an experiment with a quadrocopter for catching traffic violators was also conducted in the Stavropol Territory. Local media then reported that when choosing a place for testing, the shortcomings of the quadrocopter immediately became clear: for work, it needs open space, that is, in conditions of dense urban development with air communications, it will not be possible to safely use the drone. However, in the area of ​ ​ bypass streets or intercity routes, the conditions for it are ideal.

The very first departure of the drone in this experiment brought a result: the cameras recorded how the car went around the traffic jam on the side of the road. The driver after that paid a fine. Another test was carried out on a federal highway with quite heavy traffic, in the village area, where drivers often go around the traffic jam either on the opposite or on the side of the road. Here, the new agent brought a positive preventive effect. Drivers, noticing a drone steaming over the road, reduced speed and did not try to cross solid marking lines.

Read also

• Unmanned aerial vehicle (drone, UAV)
• Autopilot (unmanned vehicle)
• Auto industry on the verge of revolution: 5 challenges of the era of unmanned driving

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