In Acquappesa, in Calabria, the SVA overtaking SV3 has recently entered the SS18, a device that – unlike the speed cameras, which measure the instantaneous speed, and the tutors that calculate the average speed on a certain stretch – is designed to document and sanction those who make risky maneuvers in roads where the legislation expressly prohibits overtaking. It is one of the first uses of this system, which has been approved by roads with a maximum limit of 90 km/h, it can only be installed in high risk with prefectural authorization and can monitor a lane for every direction of travel. The penalties for transgressors who are “caught” vary from 42 euros up to 1,300 euros in cases similar to the driving countermean, with suspension of the license for up to three months.
The Sv3 overtaking works through a combination of sensors in the asphalt and high definition cameras which, in the event of a violation, record a short video of about 15 seconds to provide objective and irrefutable test. The images and data collected are then digitally sent to the competent authorities, which verify the infringement before notifying the sanction to the driver. The device cannot be installed everywhere: the authorization of the prefect is needed and the location takes place exclusively in areas to high risk of accidents, such as blind curves, straight with poor visibility or traits already marked by dangerous maneuvers.
How the new SV3 overtaking
The operation of the system is based on a technological infrastructure that combines invisible elements in the eyes of motorists with visible recording devices. The sensors installed directly in the road surface, called inductive because they perceive the variation of the magnetic field generated by the passage of a vehicle, identify the precise instant in which the invasion of the opposite lane takes place. When the sensors detect an unauthorized maneuver, the system immediately activates the cameras, which record a short cycle movie. This video is fundamental because it documents not only the moment of overtaking but also the previous and subsequent conditions, allowing a human operator to accurately verify the actual violation. In this way, the sanction is prevented from being a blind automatism: the device produces tests, but the validation remains in the hands of the authority.
From the point of view of the location, the overtaking cannot be used as a control tool spread over the entire road network. The guidelines establish that its installation is reserved at times critical, selected after an analysis of the incidentality rate and the morphology of the route. Think of the blind curves, in which a risky overtaking can translate into a frontal impact, or to those apparently harmless straights but characterized by reduced visibility, as happens in coastal or mountain areas. The need for prefectural authorization serves precisely to ensure that the overtaking is used as a deterrent in targeted contexts and not as a tool to be used indiscriminately.
Penalties for offenders and appeals against fines
The sanctions, as already mentioned, depend on the context and the severity of the infringement. In urban centers, the figures vary from 42 to 173 euros with the possibility of seeing 2 points on the license deducted. On extra -urban roads, where the speeds are higher and the risks of fatal impacts is higher, fines can rise to 345 euros with the reduction of 3 points. In the most serious cases, such as overtaking when cornering or near a giving, the law provides for penalties of up to 666 euros, the suspension of the license from 1 to 3 months in addition to the reduction of 10 points. If the overtaking is such as to be configured as a non -countermean guide, the amount of the sanction can safely exceed 1,300 euros. The appeal is possible within 30 days of the justice of the peace or within 60 days of the prefect.
Spelsometers: on Italian roads since 2004
Spelsometers are not an absolute novelty on the Italian road network. These tools have been used for over 20 years to identify overtaking that violates the highway code. In Italy the first appliances of this type have in fact introduced in 2004 and today there are dozens of installations scattered throughout the national territory. In an official note published in 2008, the State Police described in these terms the purpose for which it was decided to introduce its use in the Bel Paese:
The first technological equipment of this kind were installed in 2004 with the main objective of reducing road accidents due to dangerous driving. On the site, the updated map of active overtaking and whose operation is also reported on the roads also by variable message panels with the indication “ATTENTION ELECTRONIC CONTROL OF RELASS”.
