Statistics show that Tartu is home to some of the most frequently crossed intersections in Estonia when the red traffic light is on, and the police plan to start using drones to detect violations in the spring, writes ERR News.
Four intersections in Tartu have entered the top five intersections in the country where they are most frequently crossed at red lights. In each of them, drivers have violated traffic rules a hundred or more times. A clearer picture of traffic rule violations is provided by traffic control cameras located at intersections – there are two of them in Estonia, both located in Tallinn. The cameras capture the moment when drivers enter the intersection or cross the pedestrian crossing when the traffic light is on.
At one of the intersections in Tallinn, the police recorded 163 violations in 2023, but in 2024, when the use of traffic control cameras was launched, 2,002 violations were recorded. Only drivers who enter the intersection when the traffic light is red are counted.
In 2025, 532 violations were recorded at the same location.
Although traffic control cameras at traffic lights at intersections are as effective at detecting violators as photo radars are at catching speeders, there are currently no plans to deploy them at other intersections.
Starting in the spring, Tartu police will use drones instead of traffic control cameras. This means that the patrol car will not be near the intersection, and drivers will not be stopped sooner than the next intersection or even later. Argo Arukase, head of the patrol service of the Southern Prefecture of the Police, said that tactics are currently being developed.
Last November, the police tested drones to detect violators, and seven traffic violations were recorded within an hour.
Read also: Tax increases target tobacco use – smugglers rub their hands