Roadside motorway messages hit a sunny snag

A PILOT programme testing "real time" roadside messages on the M1 has run into a few snags.

The EU-funded programme - operated by the National Roads Authority and Roads Service of Northern Ireland - is intended to advise drivers of the times and distances to their destination or significant "primary destination" points along the way.

On the M1, four primary destinations, the Dublin Port Tunnel, Dublin airport, Drogheda and Dundalk, are currently part of the pilot programme.

When a vehicle approaches a variable message sign, the driver will be able to read the average travel times to the next two destinations ahead, or such is the plan.

Enter snag one. Because the system relies on reading vehicle registration numbers at the beginning and end of the system, in order to calculate average journey times, it needs at least five vehicles every five minutes. The NRA has regretfully noted that if there are fewer vehicles, "usually in the early morning hours", the variable messaging signs won't display anything.

This situation isn't really a problem, as if there are too few cars to activate the system, there would very few vehicles to view the signs in any case.

But a more serious issue has arisen: the angle of the sun. The NRA discovered a few weeks ago that the northbound journey times were not being displayed for a period of about one hour on some mornings.

It transpired that at one camera location, the cameras being directed towards the approaching vehicles were also pointing in the direction of the sun as it rose.

"This causes flaring and makes number plate capture impossible.

"It obviously only happens on clear mornings and only for about an hour, hence it took us some time to discover there was a problem at all," said an NRA spokesman.

But enter the most serious snag: what can be done about it? While camera shades have some effect, it must not be forgotten that the position and time of sunrise is also going to change throughout the year "so although we are working on a solution, it might not be a problem in a few weeks" said the NRA spokesman. However, a problem unseen is not a problem that has gone away, and it makes testing any potential solution near impossible.

The situation has implications too for the Garda who are soon to get more then 100 new vehicles - an unspecified number of which will have this number plate recognition technology.

The theory is that gardaí in unmarked cars will be able to cruise through traffic reading the number plates of those around them, and instantly check for stolen vehicles, the non-payment of motor tax, and drivers with whom they might like to have detailed conversations. Hopefully strong sunlight will not make this technology inoperable.