The first intelligent speed limiter in Romania was installed

The first smart speed limiter in Romania was installed in a commune in Ilfov county. This device is equipped with sensors that detect the speed of vehicles from a distance and allows only drivers who respect the imposed speed limit to pass.

The first intelligent speed limiter in Romania was installed

The first intelligent speed limiter in Romania was installed in Ghemănești commune, Ilfov. Here, the speed limit is 30 kilometers per hour. Even though the school is in the center of the town and many children and parents cross on the zebra crossing, some drivers continue to speed up without taking into account the restriction.

Local authorities have installed a speed limiter equipped with sensors that allows only drivers who respect the speed limit to pass. In front of it, 160 meters away from the threshold that should cause drivers to slow down, a warning sign will be placed. It will inform drivers that an intelligent system is following.

How the limiter works

The device is equipped with sensors buried in the asphalt, which detect vehicles traveling at speeds above the legal limit near the pedestrian crossing where it is installed.

If the speed limit is exceeded, the device rises from the asphalt, and if drivers slow down, it descends back to road level. The technology is imported from Mexico.

Drivers and motorcyclists traveling on the county road in Ghermănești, Ilfov county, are warned more than 150 meters before they are approaching a pedestrian crossing equipped with an intelligent speed limiter.

The bumper rises 6 and a half centimeters when sensors buried in the asphalt detect a speed greater than 30 kilometers per hour. But it goes down if drivers keep within this speed limit.

The system also features a button that pedestrians can press when they want to cross the street safely, and the limiter rises to allow them to cross.

“There is a ‘Caution, pedestrian crossing’ zone on the roadway. A sensor is mounted in the asphalt exactly there. If it respects the speed, forget it respects it, lights up green, starts to lower the bumper, the traffic participant passes without any problem. Someone came at a very high speed, even with a jeep, and than he ran over him, it’s really not ok for the car, but the car kept its normal trajectory”, said Mihai Anghel, the mayor of Snagov commune, for Pro news TV.

Although the technology comes from Mexico, it was brought to Europe by a Romanian. The installation of the intelligent speed limiter in one direction would involve a cost of 130,000 lei. However, the device in Ghermanesti was installed free of charge, as part of a pilot project.

“I had many dialogues with the authorities. Most of them want to implement this system and we felt that there is a great need to implement a pilot system in the first phase. He being somewhat unknown”, said Felix Șerb, the administrator of the company that implements the system in Romania, for the same source.

In the country of origin of the intelligent speed limiter, the number of accidents has decreased considerably.

“In one area, there were accidents every week. After installing the smart limiter, there were no more accidents at all. The behavior of drivers has changed. At the beginning, 90% of them did not respect the speed in that area, and two months after the installation, 90% of them already respected the rules”, revealed Juan Carlos, the founder of the project in Mexico.

The intelligent speed limiter could also reach the Pipera area near the Capital.