The Automatic Electronic Enforcement Project is designed to reduce the number of road accident victims by deploying automatic electronic enforcement mechanisms to detect traffic law violators. The project, due to come into effect in the coming future, will include a comprehensive survey of the published literature; a research study evaluating driver behavior; a mapping of junctions and roads where cameras and other equipment might potentially be sited; an analysis to establish the cameras’ optimum distribution, and other elements. The project's steering committee will include experts from the Ministries of Public Security, Transport, and Finance, as well as from the Israel Police and the National Road Safety Authority.
IP data for the period 2002-2003 show that 18% of all fatal accidents were caused by excessive speed, i.e. speed that was either illegally high or excessive given the circumstances or conditions on the road.
Numerous research studies have demonstrated that speed cameras or traffic light cameras can significantly reduce the number of accidents. Digital speed-limit enforcement cameras that detect and identify speeding motorists have already been found efficient and effective in the USA, England, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand and Spain.
The plan in Israel is to install the electronic enforcement devices in all parts of the country on roads and traffic-lighted junctions with a high number of accidents. As a first phase 100 cameras will be installed, some fixed, others movable.
As noted, the objective is to reduce the number of people killed and injured on the roads by altering driving norms — inducing drivers to be more observant of the traffic laws, chiefly speed limits, and of traffic lights. Another string to the project's bow is that his 'ticket', instead of arriving at the offending driver's address a long time after the offense was committed, will now reach him no later that 48-72 hours after the offense. The data on an offense will be automatically and immediately passed from the road-side camera recording it to a Command and Control center, from where the ticket will be immediately issued and mailed out.
Another possibility under examination is reducing the maximum fine payment period to thirty days and making every enquiry about the 'ticket' conditional on first paying the fine.
In addition to all the advantages already enumerated, electronic enforcement promises to free up police officer time for policing the subtler traffic offences that an automatic device cannot catch.