Technology has completely transformed the way in which the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) monitors Spanish roads. If speed radars have been a fundamental piece in this process, controlling and regulating traffic throughout the country for decades, in recent years they have been joined by cameras equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) to complement the work of the agents. of traffic.
Traffic currently has 232 cameras with artificial intelligence deployed on its competitors' roads. This is revealed by a report by Associated European Motorists (AEA), which has published on its website the complete list of these surveillance devices, indicating the precise location. It should be noted that these data do not include the autonomous communities of Catalonia and the Basque Country, which have their own powers regarding traffic.
The DGT's artificial vision cameras mainly identify infractions such as the use of a mobile phone while driving or not wearing a seat belt. They are also responsible for monitoring other punishable driver behaviors, such as improper lane changes, running a red light or failing to stop at a stop sign.
The majority of these AI-enabled cameras, a total of 224, are intended for the automated detection of vehicles whose occupants are not wearing seat belts. Only 4 of them are in charge of controlling drivers who do not respect the solid line, while the remaining four are distributed equally to control drivers who skip traffic lights (2) or the stop sign (2).
In this link on the Associated European Motorists website you can consult the detailed list of these cameras. In the list you will be able to see the precise location of the devices and the specific violation they monitor, detailed by autonomous community. It stands out that Andalusia heads the list with 59 cameras, followed by Castilla-La Mancha (34), Galicia (31) and Castilla y León (30). On the other hand, Extremadura, the Balearic Islands and Navarra are the regions where the fewest cameras with AI are located, with only two in each community.
The cameras have technology based on artificial intelligence that can identify if the driver is committing any of the aforementioned infractions. They capture images of all vehicles on the road and, through an automatic filtering process, select only files with a high probability of showing a violation to send to the system.
Ultimately, these images are reviewed by a DGT technician, who verifies whether the person photographed is actually engaging in anti-regulatory behavior. The verification at the end of the process aims to preserve the guarantee of the DGT's sanctioning procedure, in addition to helping the artificial intelligence system to be more precise in the selection of photographs.
According to DGT data, in 2023, 1,145 people lost their lives in traffic accidents on Spanish roads. Of these fatalities, 138 who were traveling in cars and vans were not wearing seat belts. This figure is alarming, since according to the data provided by the DGT, the use of a seat belt reduces the probability of death in a traffic accident from three to one and reaches its maximum effectiveness in rollovers, where it reduces the risk of death by 77%. .
