Romania plans to equip main highways with surveillance cameras

Romania’s National Company for Road Infrastructure Administration (CNAIR) has announced plans to equip highways A1, A2, and A3, as well as national road DN1 with surveillance cameras, with the investment valued at RON 220 million (EUR 44.2 million) excluding VAT.

The cameras will allow authorities to penalize drivers who exceed speed limits and detect other potential incidents.

“This system will be part of the future e-SIGUR system. There are around 250 cameras in this specific contract, six of which are radar cameras, with the rest used for incident detection and protecting service areas. The system will be managed by CNAIR in cooperation with Traffic Police. Information regarding speeding violations will be sent to the Traffic Police,” said Cristian Pistol, the General Director of CNAIR, during a press conference on Friday, cited by News.ro.

"We have several contracts related to video cameras. I know one contract was won by Vodafone, and another by Electra,” said Pistol.

Transport minister Sorin Grindeanu was also asked during the same press conference whether these cameras would infringe on drivers' privacy and how authorities would ensure the system complies with regulations.

"This type of monitoring system exists all across Europe. Especially from this region, many people have driven west, to Hungary, and Austria, where these systems are in place. I’ve experienced it myself. You get a ticket at home if you exceed 130 km/h," Grindeanu said.

He also emphasized that such camera systems, alongside a well-maintained highway network, have contributed to fewer road accidents in Western Europe compared to Romania.

(Photo source: Ivansmuk | Dreamstime.com)