Serbia to increasingly use drones for traffic monitoring

The use of drones on roads across Serbia will become increasingly common in the near future, noted Ivica Dacic, the Minister of Internal Affairs in the caretaker government. He added that drones were being introduced not merely to record traffic, but to make it safer.

– Their advantage lies in enabling the police to monitor a wider stretch of road from a single vantage point and to spot behaviors that often cannot be seen the same way from the ground – said Dacic, as reported on the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Instagram profile.

According to him, drones will complement existing operational tools - such as police patrols, radar units, interceptor vehicles, and video surveillance systems.

– The traffic police are not getting a replacement for human officers, but rather a new tool that enables them to be more efficient. Technology should help the police better see what is happening on the road, detect dangerous behavior more quickly, and direct patrols to where they are needed most – Dacic emphasized.

Between September 14 and 18, 15 officers from the Traffic Police Administration completed training on operating unmanned aerial vehicles at the “Mitrovo Polje” Training Center on Mount Goc. The number of trained officers is set to increase further in the coming period.

The training is conducted by members of the Border Police Administration, who are sharing their knowledge and experience in operating unmanned aerial vehicles with their colleagues from the Traffic Police.

– We want this system to be more widely present on roads across Serbia. However, the ultimate goal is not a higher number of detected violations, but rather fewer violations, fewer traffic accidents, and, above all, fewer fatalities and injuries. The key is to identify and prevent dangerous behavior before it leads to a traffic accident. The best police response is one that prevents a tragedy before it occurs – stated Dacic.

Ministarstvo unutrašnjih poslova Republike Srbije

Ministry of Internal Affairs

Traffic Police Administration

Ivica Dačić

use of drones for traffic monitoring