JEDDAH: The Saher traffic camera system will be operational across Jeddah within a year, Al-Madina Arabic daily reported Thursday. There are currently 12 mobile camera units operational in Jeddah, deployed at “black spots” and transferring from site to site each hour, but present work to install optic fiber cables and electricity supply infrastructure will see fixed cameras installed across the city. Other work will see the construction of a multi-screen operations room to monitor all of the governorate's thoroughfares and direct traffic patrols to zones of congestion. Al-Madina said that the cameras would capture images of vehicles committing offenses such as blocking pedestrian crossings, jumping traffic lights and speeding, and issue corresponding fines. While fines in principle should be issued through the automated system, the newspaper said that traffic officials would also be tasked with studying information and images to determine whether an offense has been committed. Some photographs fail to capture clear images of license plates, while some motorists have been known to use a variety of techniques to evade detection. The Saher computer network is also used to detect wanted or stolen vehicles. When the plate number is fed into the system, it automatically identifies the vehicle and determines its route and direction, information which is passed on to police patrols to then make an arrest. First introduced last April in Riyadh, Saher brought a fall of 49 percent in the capital's death rate from speeding and a decrease in injuries of 9 percent, according to traffic reports. Fixed cameras are sometimes installed out of sight on trees, bridges and billboard signs, in addition to mobile cameras employed by Traffic Police units.
