Bordeaux Police Department Uses Drones to Make Roads Safer

Drones are being use by everyone from hobbyists to big corporations. Police departments use them to aid in investigations and surveillance, grocery stores use them to help retrieve products for customers, and Amazon uses them to deliver packages to customers. As time goes on, the things people use drones for increase in number, and so it is only reasonable that police officers begin using drones to monitor drivers to help make people safer.
Bordeaux’s police department has begun using multi-rotor drones to try and catch law-breaking drivers. The drones fly above ground, and since the implementation of the trial this summer, the drones have helped hand out hundreds of tickets to people breaking the law, resulting in a decrease in crimes and broken laws just a few months later.
Drones flying above roads send feeds of live video to police, helping the officers find law-breakers quickly. If a drone captures footage of someone driving dangerously, for example, the drone can track the driver’s vehicle while calling officers to come intervene. A single drone can identify up to 20 dangerous drivers in just an hour, making them an efficient addition to the Bordeaux police force.
Some people are against the department using these drones, mostly because they are worried that drivers will be preoccupied looking for the drones instead of paying attention to the road. Those who oppose the program are few in number, so it is likely that France will implement this drone program in other regions to help make roads safer.
Contrary to what you may think, these drones do not focus on monitoring motorists’ speed, because officers can do that themselves without much issue. They are being used in conjunction with police presence; the officers are parked in cars or motorcycles nearby, while the drones fly overhead helping the officers spot drivers who are breaking the law. The officers are then able to follow the drones tracking directions to find the drivers and pull them over, and other officers come by to issue fines to punish poor driving.
The traffic drones are quite popular in Bordeaux, and they are likely to continue to rise in popularity as the instances of dangerous driving decrease in number. It is highly likely that other areas in France, and cities all over the world, will adopt this program because it has been so effective in fixing Bordeaux’s road troubles. Not only does it help officers catch dangerous drivers more efficiently, the drone program provides officers with footage that can be used in court, and helps make driving safer for everyone.
Via: TheDrive