The municipality Schmitten in Germany is the recipient of the Vintec Award 2010. The machine vision company Vitronic recognised the municipality for its innovative concept for traffic safety and the reduction of noise pollution by motorcycles. The award was presented to Mayor Marcus Kinkel by Vitronic managing director Dr Norbert Stein.
The central component of the innovative concept is the permanently installed speed enforcement system PoliScan Speed that photographs motorcycles from the front and from the rear. The main objectives consist of reducing the significant noise pollution caused by speeders and to improve the traffic safety by installing the speed cameras. The Vitronic systems are permanently installed at two locations.
Instead of only a single column that can monitor both driving directions, two additional cameras are installed in smaller columns. These not only make it possible to photograph motorcyclists from the front, but also from the rear - at the same time in both driving directions. 'The motorcyclist's photograph and the photograph of the license plate are the necessary evidence in order to prosecute speeders,' said Stein.
Another distinctive feature: for the first time in Germany, a laser-based speed measuring system that requires no invasive installations and monitors traffic from only one side of the roadway was especially designed for motorcycles. Loops in the ground periodically require elaborate road work and consequently interfere with the traffic flow. The PoliScan Speed enforcement system, in contrast, operates on the basis of a laser and therefore requires no installations in the road surface and allows free flow traffic.
The noise pollution of the residents was clearly reduced due to speed enforcement.
