London’s Metropolitan police will soon be using drones to seek dangerous drivers and persons who participate in illegal street racing out.
According to Auto Express, the department has announced that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will take to the air to target motorists who pose a threat to the safety of other drivers and the general public.
The drones will specifically search for dangerous drivers and illegal street racers and won't be targetting all speeding incidents. Any such motorists spotted by the aerial devices will be flagged and officers on the ground will be instructed to intercept.
This is the first time drones will be used to monitor dangerous driving and Detective Superintendent Andy Cox, who functions as Met police road and traffic chief, has said that the drones are just one of many enforcement tactics being utilized as part of London's Vision Zero action week.
The above is a program which seeks to reduce the number of people killed or seriously hurt in collisions in London by 65 percent by 2022 and bring the number down to zero in a further eight years.
Cox says the drone watch is being implemented in order to deter persons from driving dangerously along the capital's roads, adding that the general message should be "drive lawfully, stay safe and keep a clean license”.
“Deterrence is sometimes best achieved through intense enforcement and that’s what this capability enables," he continued.
The drones will be used to target motorists between July 22-26 in known trouble spots such as the A10 in Enfield, which has been the location of eight road deaths in the last two years.
"The focus will be on dangerous drivers who are racing and those putting their lives and other people’s at risk," Cox says.
The UAVs are also set up with night vision. They will fly at high altitudes so they could monitor drivers without being spotted but will also hover around in sight to serve as a deterrent.