You're being watched by 300 traffic cameras

Many motorists in Luxembourg regularly check the traffic information website CITA (contrôle et d'information du trafic sur les autoroutes) that has been in operation since October 2000. With 300 cameras spread across the country’s motorway system, drivers are able to check traffic conditions in real time and estimate their journey time. But what does CITA do with the images? Can they be used to identify you? Can they be used as legal evidence?

In fact traffic news comes from two sources: the Automobile Club of Luxembourg (ACL) and Luxembourg’s highway maintenance administration or “Ponts et Chaussées”, to be channelled onto the CITA website.

CITA headquarters are located in Bertrange, just behind highway maintenance offices. In the building you’ll find a rather bleak office with a big wall of screens displaying the state of Luxembourg’s traffic. It takes a lot of the operator’s attention and concentration to follow traffic flow in real time.

No vehicle or driver identification

Some drivers may be concerned that this is “big brother” watching them, but they needn’t worry as this is not the aim of CITA. Images that appear on screens are simply displayed and not recorded. To do this for 300 cameras would require massive storage capabilities. However, in the case of an accident, the images could be considered as official documents leading to legal action, but that is not CITA’s goal.

So can the cameras be used to identify you? The answer is that they can be used to identify a type and colour of a car, but not a number plate. The same for vague identification of a driver’s clothing colour for example, but only if light and contrast allows it. The only accurate thing the cameras can do where a driver is concerned, is to note whether they are wearing a T-shirt or sweater for example, but no more.