London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan has instated a new policy called the Vision Zero initiative which states that all road accident deaths are unacceptable.  In 2019 London saw more than 60 people killed on it’s roadways.  Mayor Khan hopes to have eliminated all roadway accidental deaths by the year 2041.  The Metropolitan Police is gearing up to tackle this goal with the assistance of drones.  With the implementation of its new drone traffic program, the London Met Police Force will be the first UK organization to utilize such an operation.

Detective Supt Andy Cox is the head of the Met’s roads and traffic policing unit, as well as Mayor Khan’s lead on the Vision Zero initiative.  They plan to use a drone to monitor specific roadways for dangerous driving practices.  The drone will not be used for general speeding tickets, as they are not yet able to monitor a vehicle’s actual speed, but for tracking and catching more aggressive behaviors like racing.  Cox said, “This is one of many enforcement tactics being used. Its aim is to deter dangerous driving and we hope the message of ‘drive lawfully, stay safe and keep a clean license’ is widely understood. 

However, deterrence is sometimes best achieved through intense enforcement and that’s what this capability enables.” The drone will be equipped with night vision capabilities so it can be used for nighttime and daytime surveillance.  The drone will also be able to work from multiple altitudes.  The drone’s camera will relay a live stream video of what it sees to an operator.  Once a traffic offender is spotted the operator will then notify officers ahead of the scene so they can apprehend the driver.  The drone will continue to track the vehicle until it has met up with the waiting officers.  Mayor Khan and Det Supt Cox are following an example set by the French police who have been using a similar traffic drone for some time now.

In Bordeaux, in the southwest of France, Police captain Pascal Gensous has been using a drone to catch traffic offenders since 2017.  On Wednesday May 15, 2017 officers in France first launched two drones above the A126 in the Ile-de-France.  Shortly after, one of the drones spotted someone on a motorcycle who was driving erratically.  The motorcyclist repeatedly crossed over a solid white line at Chilly-Mazarin junction.  The officer operating the drone was able to coordinate with another traffic officer further up the road to be prepared to pull over the rider.  The rider lost three points and was issued a fine for €90.

The French police have shown great success with their traffic drone program.  Choosing the location to monitor with the drones is carefully planned out based on accident statistics for the area.  In that small stretch of roadway there had already been several motorcycle accidents leading to severe injuries, one in death.  With the use of the drones they are able to stop upwards of 64 motorcyclists in a period of two hours.  Each offender stopped results in fines paid to the city, but more importantly could also mean a life saved

A spokesperson for the program stated, “This is a new technology that we will use more and more often, in different places.”  Clearly the use of drones to monitor roadways has proven to be an asset.  France has continued to expand their program.  After the initial testing of the program commences in London it could be likely that Mayor Khan will be suggesting further use of drones in his district as well.

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