A specially-adapted automatic number plate-recognition system will identify the country of origin of vehicles arriving in Scotland by sea from mainland Europe and flash a ‘drive on the left’ warning in the appropriate language.
The Scottish Executive is sourcing a supplier for a trial own-language information system which could be operational during 2006 at the Firth of Forth port of Rosyth, 35% of whose arrivals by car ferry from Zeebrugge in Belgium are of non-UK origin. If this is successful, the executive could roll out OLIS across inland areas, as a safety precaution for overseas visitors. The initiative results from a study by Faber Maunsell, which will manage the tendering process and installation contract.
The study followed an executive research study which found that tourism significantly boosted road accidents in rural areas of Scotland. Visitor drivers were at fault in 73% of incidents involving them.
This was typically because they were on the wrong side of the road and turning. The study lists key danger areas as roundabouts, moving off on quiet roads, emerging from garage forecourts and setting off from airports or ports. The system will categorise number plates by scanning their layout and ‘syntax’.
Said Faber Maunsell’s Joanne Casey: ‘It will not record vehicle registrations, but look for the patterns which their characters make.’
Installation is expected to cost around £45,000, against average fatal accident prevention values of £1.45M (fatal), £168,260 (serious), and £16,750 (slight).