Abu Dhabi's cutting-edge cameras get ready to put brakes on rogue drivers

State-of-the-art triple-function traffic cameras have been installed at 40 junctions in Abu Dhabi city and will become operational "this week".

One of the new traffic cameras at the junction of 15th Street and Muroor Road. Sammy Dallal / The National
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ABU DHABI // State-of-the-art triple-function traffic cameras have been installed at 40 junctions in Abu Dhabi city and will become operational "this week".

It is the first phase of a plan to enhance traffic monitoring across the emirate. Besides snapping pictures of speeding motorists or those jumping a red light, the cameras will help police monitor traffic during an accident thanks to a built-in, high-definition video camera, which stores and renders images around the clock.

The radar will be set with a buffer against the posted speed limit.

"Technical surveys have been done to determine the number of cameras per intersection … as some require only two while others require four for optimal coverage," Brig Gen Hussein Al Harethi, head of the traffic and patrols directorate in Abu Dhabi, told The National's Arabic-language sister paper, Al Ittihad, on Sunday.

After this initial phase, these triple-function cameras will be installed elsewhere, he added.

"The second and third phases will involve Al Ain and the Western Region respectively, to better cover high-risk areas and intersections where a significant number of accidents have happened," Brig Al Harethi said. "The goal is to bring down the number of accidents at traffic-light intersections, which are the most dangerous."