Technological advances have an increasing impact on traffic management. Radars, cameras, helicopters and drones are part of the extensive network of instruments that, intelligently coordinated, redefine the effectiveness and precision with which authorities address road challenges. These devices intervene in previously defined areas, thus contributing to guaranteeing safety on the road, complementing the work of traffic officers.
The Halcón Unit of the Granada Local Police is no stranger to technological innovations that help control traffic in the city. Since the beginning of 2021, the force has had a drone to monitor the most inaccessible spaces from the air. The device has a range of up to 400 meters and is controlled at all times by an agent.
Initially, the Local Police of Granada had used the drone to control the bottles next to the city's viewpoints and also to report improper parking. During the time that the device was dedicated to this task, the police force used social networks to report the damage caused by cars parked next to parks and to show the inconvenience they caused to neighbors.
For a few weeks now, the drone has been in charge of controlling traffic in the most conflictive points of the city. And, as seen in a publication published by the Granada Local Police itself on its official X profile (formerly Twitter), its effectiveness in detecting offending drivers is beyond any doubt.
The message, which is accompanied by the images recorded by the drone, reports that the driver of a utility vehicle and the driver of a high-end car were reported for committing infractions. The woman, for using the mobile phone while she is driving, and the other driver for traveling in the bus lane.
The Local Police resorts to irony to account for the two infractions that the drone is capable of hunting in just 40 seconds. “This driver, who uses her cell phone while she is driving, is surely not reading our social networks, because she, if not she, would know that our
In the video you can see how the woman types a message on her mobile phone when the car is stopped at a traffic light. The fact that at the time of the report the vehicle is not running does not exempt the driver from the responsibility associated with the improper use of the mobile device while behind the wheel, as specified by the Granada Local Police when in doubt about a user.
"The arrest at a traffic light, a stop sign or a traffic stop is a circumstance of traffic and, therefore, one is moving and could be reported," the police force points out in response to the user's question. In fact, one of the limitations made by the new Traffic Law is the reference to the expression "while driving", which includes all situations while the vehicle is on the road.
The fine for driving while using your mobile phone by hand amounts to 200 euros and entails the loss of 6 points on your license, twice as much as before the new regulations came into force on March 21, 2022.
