VERA PROJECT LEAVES UNFINISHED BUSINESS
David Andrew Crawford · Traffic engineering & control · 2000
This article reviews European prospects for automated traffic violation enforcement, following the conclusion of the EU's Video Enforcement by Road Authorities (VERA) project in November 1999. Plans to develop an EU system for automated traffic violation enforcement are awaiting a decision on new funding by the EU in Spring 2000. The proposed successor to VERA is the Digital Imaging Enforcement Systems (DimES) project, which aims to create the tools and frameworks for further progress. VERA involved 27 organisations from nine EU countries, and examined the scope for harmonised approaches to enforcing traffic laws throughout the EU, using digital video technology, and to promoting the acceptance of video records as evidence in court. It showed that there are no legal barriers to accepting recent developments in digital video. Thus it confirmed the widening European recognition of road traffic law enforcement as a critical application of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). Digital video can, for example, automate all or part of the enforcement process. DimES is designed to move towards full deployment of digital enforcement technologies by: (1) developing enabling tools and technologies; (2) evolving new enforcement applications; (3) examining the socioeconomic and cost-benefit impacts of digital enforcement; and (4) establishing an EU agreement for cross-border enforcement.