The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) in Spain has announced it will begin to monitor the roads of the nation with drones. As it stands, the DGT has confirmed in a press release that the scope of application of these drones will be limited to “traffic surveillance and regulation”, capturing images thanks to its high resolution cameras (up to 4K) that will record penalties that until now could only detect by Pegasus helicopters.
The fleet of drones presented by the DGT is formed, at the moment, by five units: a DJI Phantom 2, a DJI Phantom 4 Pro, and two professional models – the DJI Matrice 200 and the DJI S900, of which two units have already been purchased. The drone fleet will be expanded during the coming weeks with seven more units as has been planned by the DGT.
In the press release issued to the media, the DGT ensures that these drones have a radius of action of 500 meters and can rise to 120 meters, reaching 2 hours of autonomy. However, models like the DJI Matrice 200 are able to reach a maximum distance of seven kilometers before losing the signal with the receiver.
Gregorio Serrano, director of the DGT, explained that “the incorporation of these unmanned devices to the aerial surveillance services of the DGT will contribute to better traffic management, to a greater protection of vulnerable groups (cyclists) and to a better service in special operations.”
To be able to handle these drones, the DGT has been submitted to standard regulations, applying to be accredited as an operator of remotely piloted aircraft systems by the local aviation authority, the State Agency for Air Safety. The training of the agents in charge of directing the drones has been supervised by the Helicopter Unit of the DGT, an organization that also has authorisation for the issuance of basic and advanced certificates for the piloting of drones.
The DGT has shown the operation of these drones through a video that has spread on social networks. In it you can see these devices watching the curves of the famous Green Cross, near El Escorial, one of the points of highest concentration of motorcycles in Madrid every weekend: