SŽDC Launches Pilot Project for Intelligent Level Crossings
”This is not an addition to the railway crossing’s equipment but a prevention tool which will allow us fighting effectively with dangerous drivers. Those who observe road traffic regulations have no penalty to worry about. On the other side, the real “road-hogs” can lose their driving licence points shortly and thus the licence itself. By installing these supervision systems, we expect a considerable decrease in accidents at railway crossings“, says Mr. Jiří Svoboda, Director General of SŽDC.
Cameras at railway crossings in the Czech Republic are not quite new but their recordings did not allow fining drivers for their law infringement so far. This changes now however. The new system can not only record everything going on at railway crossings but its outputs allow fining undisciplined drivers who enter the crossing when the warning equipment is active already. In the near future, the system can be completed with radar which will record all cases of exceeding maximum speed allowed by road vehicles on the crossing during its quiet mode.
Observance of maximum speed allowed at railway crossings will bring another benefit to the railway by a longer life cycle of the crossing’s construction components. The surface is mostly devastated by high speed of passing road vehicles. Especially hard trucks with drivers exceeding maximum speed allowed at railway crossings even twice can completely devastate a crossing reconstructed for a price of CZK several million in a single year.
SŽDC cooperates on this project also with the Czech Police which could use camera systems e.g. for coordination of Integrated Rescue Service units’ interventions. Such cooperation resulted already in a list of approximately thirty sites where similar equipment could be installed.
A driver entering a railway crossing in cases forbidden by law is culpable of offence. According to the law, he can be penalized by a fine up to CZK 5,000, by an activity suspension consisting in a suspension of rights to drive motor cars up to 6 months and by 7 penalty points which will be added to his driving licence points’ account.
At present, SŽDC leads intensive talks with the Union of Towns and Municipalities on cooperation possibilities in constructing new camera systems on municipal terrains with financial costs borne by each municipality. If the talks result in an agreement, SŽDC will assure necessary technical support to cooperating municipalities for installing the equipment. The camera system would be managed by each respective municipality and its output would be handed over to the municipality with extended powers for administrative proceedings or it would be handled by the municipalities themselves. The yield from fines issued in administrative proceedings would be transferred directly to the respective municipality’s budget.
Results from the first system in operation are extremely positive. During pilot operation of supervision cameras at Úvaly u Prahy, 375 driving offences occurred for ten months in 2017. Next year, this number considerably decreased for the same period to 131 offences. The City Mayor Mr. Petr Borecký says: ”The situation at Úvaly was really unacceptable. During operation of this equipment, the number of offences decreased drastically; however, not only drivers are culprits of law infringements. Videos from safety cameras often show grown-up people leading their own children by hand even twenty seconds after warning lights start flashing. It always gives me the shivers when I realize that trains pass this crossing commonly at speeds up to 120 kilometres per hour and due to their coming out from a curve, they can be seen only in the last moment“.Soubory ke stažení
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