A flood of cameras at traffic lights and crossings. RedLight systems in more locations
- As part of the project co-financed by the KPO, 10 RedLights will appear at road intersections and 5 at railway crossings by mid-2026. The locations have been determined, but they have been divided into primary and reserve. Only during field analyses will it become clear where the cameras will actually appear.
- The aforementioned systems, which are already in operation, recorded over 60.5 thousand offences in 2024 in terms of road signals, while over 12 thousand at railway crossings. In the latter case, the fine is much more financially burdensome, as it amounts to as much as PLN 2 thousand.
- The cameras recorded the most red light crossings at the Inwalidów roundabout in Łódź, which is why residents voted in the civic budget for the project of installing so-called seconds there. Their use, however, is controversial, as discussed at the Infrastructure Committee.
Currently, there are 47 RedLight systems operating at road intersections throughout the country and 4 at road-railway intersections, i.e. railway crossings . In the coming months, these devices will be used as part of a project co-financed by the National Reconstruction Plan .
Expansion of the Automatic Road Traffic Supervision Centre with money from the KPOIt is not just about these systems. As part of the project, as elements of the expansion of the Automatic Road Traffic Monitoring Centre (CANARD) , the installation of:
- 43 devices for section speed measurement,
- 70 point speed measurement devices,
- 10 devices for monitoring red light crossings,
- 5 devices for monitoring red light crossings at railway crossings.
They will be installed and launched successively until June 30, 2026.
In January, we reported on an order for sectional speed measurements. The winner of a separate tender for RedLight systems should also be known soon.
They have already selected locations for RedLight systems. Some may, however, fall off the main listsThe locations have apparently already been selected, but it remains to be seen where the cameras will ultimately appear.
- The selected contractor, after signing the contract, will conduct an inspection of each proposed location from the basic list in terms of the technical possibilities of installing the devices. If the installation of the devices in one of the locations is not possible, a location from the reserve list will be used - explained GITD .
As for road intersections, the main list includes 3 locations in the Wielkopolska province (Nekla, Wolsztyn, Kościelna Wieś) and two each in the Silesian, Masovian and Pomeranian provinces, as well as one in the Lesser Poland province . Two intersections in the Wielkopolska and Lesser Poland provinces, as well as one each in the Silesian and Lower Silesia provinces , were included on the reserve list.
In the case of railway crossings, the top five are again mostly filled by intersections in the Wielkopolska province , and specifically in:
- Wymysłów on national road no. 15,
- Łąkocinach on DK36,
- Piaskach on DK 11.
In addition, a crossing was selected in Barwałd Dolny on DK52 (Małopolska Province) and Większyce on DK45 (Opole Province) . Four proposals were included on the reserve list - this time without representatives of the Wielkopolska Province.
Full lists of RedLight system locations within the KPO can be found below in the “Multimedia” section.
At these intersections, cameras recorded the most drivers running red lightsThe 47 existing RedLight systems operating at road intersections registered a total of 60,509 violations of failure to comply with a red light signal in 2024. Considering that a single such violation is punishable by a fine of PLN 500 (and as many as 15 penalty points) , we receive fines issued for the entire previous year for a total amount of over PLN 30.2 million.
The leaders in this respect were the cameras at the intersection of Puszkina and Rokicińska streets in Łódź (Inwalidów roundabout) , which detected violations of the regulations 6,833 times (over PLN 3.4 million) , despite the fact that RedLight has only been operating here since April 19, 2024. The next in line of intersections in Kraków - Aleja Pokoju/Nowohucka (5,041 - approx. PLN 2.5 million) and Tischnera/Brożka/Zakopiańska/Wadowicka (3,641 - approx. PLN 1.8 million) were launched on February 14 and January 29 last year , respectively.
At road-rail intersections, only 4 systems have been checking drivers so far, but they have already managed to catch many violations. The most in 2024, 4995 , were recorded at the crossing on Cyrulików Street in Warsaw , and slightly fewer - 4489 - on Średzka Street in Wrocław .
However, cameras at railway crossings generate much more revenue than their road counterparts, as driving through a red light means a fine of up to PLN 2,000 .
In the case of ul. Cyrulików in Warsaw alone, this means fines worth almost PLN 10 million in the entire previous year, and in total, the 4 "railway" systems, recording 12,277 offences , gave rise to issuing fines worth over PLN 24.5 million .
It is therefore not surprising that there are plans to ultimately cover up to about half a thousand railway crossings with these systems.
And some drivers do not realize that they can get a PLN 2,000 ticket even if they start when the barrier is already open. Article 97a of the Code of Offenses states that a road user or other person on a public road, in a residential zone or traffic zone, as well as a driver of a vehicle who violates the ban:
1) driving around lowered barriers or half-barriers at a level crossing, entering the level crossing if the lowering of the barriers or half-barriers has started or their raising has not been completed, and entering or driving onto the level crossing behind a signal or other signalling device when the signal is red, red flashing or two alternately flashing red signals,
2) entering a railway crossing if there is no space on the other side to continue the journey, shall be subject to the penalty of arrest, restriction of liberty or a fine of not less than PLN 2,000.
This means that a fine is not only for driving around barriers when they are closed or in the process of being closed, but even when they have already been opened but the red lights have not yet gone out. This is usually a matter of a few seconds at most - from the opening of the barriers to the lights going out - but drivers can be impatient and enter the crossing immediately. Moreover, if within 2 years of the last legally binding penalty, the driver commits the same offence again and is caught doing so, i.e. in the case of recidivism, the fine will already amount to PLN 4,000.
Adrian Furgalski: not all drivers know what it is about when they see two alternately flashing red lightsDuring one of the recent meetings of the Sejm Infrastructure Committee , the president of the TOR Economic Advisory Team, Adrian Furgalski - in the context of accidents at road and rail crossings - pointed out that some drivers have problems interpreting the light signals at crossings.
Not all drivers know what it means when they see two alternately flashing red lights. Some of them think it's information that the signal is broken.
- noted the president.
- We have joint regulations of the Ministry of Interior and Administration and the Ministry of Infrastructure on signs and signals, which are the basis for training drivers and examining them. They do not include these signals - that is in a separate regulation - he added.
Furgalski suggested that information could be gathered on how it works in other countries.
- Maybe this signal is too complicated for drivers? Maybe something simpler like green and red? - he wondered.
The discussion generally revolved around the topic of so-called second lights , which the now aging Polish law allows only at intersections with fixed-time signals, even though technology already allows them to function together with variable-time signals, which has already been implemented in some places. The Ministry of Infrastructure announced that it is preparing an amendment to the regulations in this direction.
