This is NOT a speed trap

(Photo: europasur.es)

ANDALUCÍA The DGT (Dirección General de Tráfico) is installing a new computerised  management system on the A-381 Jerez-Los Barrios road. The system began installing it about a year ago with the first electronic traffic information panels at the Campo de Gibraltar end of the road, which are still not in service. Motorised video cameras have also been installed, as have the cables that allow information to be delivered along 87 kilometers of road. The project is still incomplete and no date for it to become operational has been announced. Nevertheless, just a few weeks ago some new equipment - coloured blue and similar to halogen lamps - were installed on the back of the panels. These became a trending topic on the social media, which say they could be radar controls. In a statement to Europa Sur, the DGT denied that they were speed traps. However, they are, apparently, cameras that can read number plates and are needed to measure data such as Daily Average Intensity (i.e. road usage) but do not contain the necessary video recorders that would be used to emit speeding fines. The panels will - when the system is finally operational - give such information as traffic density, diversions, weather warnings and delays, among other things. The number plate readers will establish how long it takes to cover a given distance and therefore be able to announce the approximate time remaining to get to a specific spot. The DGT insisted that this is not a speed trap, but there are two of these at Kms 37.3 and 74.7 on that road.