Relation:enforcement

This relation documents different kinds of permanently installed devices that measure and document traffic violations, such as:

• speed traps
• red light cameras
• distance between vehicles measuring
• weight check (heavy goods vehicles)
• ordinary traffic checks (papers, use of alcohol, etc.)
• compliance with road toll regulations (currently specifically the Toll Collect system in Germany)
• Average Speed Check (SPECS)

These devices belong to the same class of objects and shall therefore use the same tagging schema with different values. Sometimes a combination of values is required if the device serves more than one function (e.g., both a speed trap and red light camera in one device).

Where to map?

Note that some countries forbid mapping traffic enforcement installations. If rendering or displaying in a routing software or alerting in a routing software is forbidden anywhere, you can add the information to the map - renderer and routing software will make sure to follow the law. Therefore, routing software shall offer traffic enforcement features as plug-ins, so the user can choose if they want to install the feature.

Tags

Traffic enforcement devices are not a place you'd want to go and are therefore not an amenity.

Create a single relation for each traffic enforcement device, if there are several, as each can measure different things to vehicles from different directions.

Key	Value	Example	Comment
type	enforcement	enforcement	The type of relation.
enforcement	maxspeed / traffic_signals / check / access / maxweight / maxheight / mindistance / mobile_phone / seatbelt	maxspeed	The type of enforcement.
enforcement	toll	toll	HGV toll enforcement camera bridges and pillars in Germany (see Toll Collect on Wikipedia), checking system compliance. For normal toll bridges or gantries with no barrier to impede traffic that directly trigger payment please use highway=toll_gantry
enforcement	average_speed	average_speed	Average speed measuring speed camera system / Section Control (see SPECS_(speed_camera) on Wikipedia). Tag the way(s) for which speed is averaged across (enforced).
maxspeed	number; specify unit if not in km/h	60	The maximum speed (optional, only specify if enforcement=maxspeed)
maxweight	number; specify unit if not in tonnes	16	The maximum weight (optional, only specify if enforcement=maxweight)
maxheight	number; specify unit if not in metres	4	The maximum height (optional, only specify if enforcement=maxheight)
mindistance	number; specify unit if not in metres	80	The minimum vehicle distance (optional, only specify if enforcement=mindistance)

The "mindistance" enforcement is for following distance. The "check" enforcement is for a checkpoint.

Members

Type	Role	Recurrence?	Comment
	device	one or more	Placed where the enforcement device is located. For a large device (e.g. an HGV scale), a way or area may be preferred (that must be connected to the same way). Note that the device might not be on the same way as the from (and optional to) nodes; e.g. a speed camera will often be on the side of the road).
	from	one or more	Node on the highway from which the enforcement is checked. Placed at the same place as signs (e.g. "radar controlled", "traffic signals ahead") if present. If not, estimate a sensible distance where a driver would need to be warned of the enforcement if driving with allowed speed, or the usual legal distance of such warning. For average speed enforcement: Place the node at the point on the road where the starting measurement is done.
	to	one or more - in some cases optional	Node where the enforcement ends. Optional if device and from roles are on the same way. In this case, the device acts as the to member. Required if device and from roles aren't on the same way (e.g., speed camera, turn restriction), to make clear in which direction the enforcement occurs. For average speed enforcement: Place the node at the point on the road where the end measurement is done.
	section	one or more	Line for the section control (SPECS / Section Control), if not defined by the from and to roles above.
	force	one or more - optional	A device (e.g. light or barrier) which enforce the rule being applied in the relation.

Examples

Example 1: Simple Redlight camera

A redlight camera at a crossing.

               N
               |
               |
W----------*---#-----------------E
               | 
               |
               S 

Relation: type=enforcement enforcement=traffic_signals

• "#" Node: highway=traffic_signals, device,
• "*" Node: from,

Example 2: Redlight camera for turning left only

A redlight camera at a crossing, only taking photos of cars coming from the west turning left to the north.

               N
               |
               o
               |
W----------*---#-----------------E
               | 
               |
               S 

Relation: type=enforcement enforcement=traffic_signals

• "#" Node: highway=traffic_signals, device,
• "*" Node: from,
• "o" Node: to

Note: Use the "to" role if the device is placed in a way it affects vehicles going to different directions differently. As shown in example 1 the "to" role is optional, as long as the device node is member of the road way.

Example 3: Speed Camera

Example 3a: Simple speed camera on the street

A speed camera on or in the middle of the street, taking pictures of vehicles coming from the west going to the east.

W----------*---#------------------E
              

Relation: type=enforcement enforcement=maxspeed maxspeed=60

• "#" Node: device,
• "*" Node: from

Example 3b: Simple speed camera next to the street

A speed camera next to the street, taking pictures of vehicles coming from the west going to the east.

W----------*--------o--------------E
                      #

Relation: type=enforcement enforcement=maxspeed maxspeed=60

• "#" Node: device,
• "*" Node: from
• "o" Node: to (mandatory, because the device is not on the road)

Note: This example illustrates the case where pictures are taken from the front of the car.

Simple video tutorial on doing this in JOSM: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tnohs_8gFY

Simple video tutorial on doing this in Potlatch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJlqlchv4vU

Simple video tutorial on doing this in openstreetmaps web editor: https://youtu.be/E6s30eThFe8

Example 3c: Speed camera making pictures from the back

A speed camera on a very high post on the other side of individually mapped lanes, taking pictures of vehicles coming from the west going to the east, taking the pictures from the back to see licence plates of motorbikes.

       #
 ==================================             
W----------*----o------------------E

Relation: type=enforcement enforcement=maxspeed maxspeed=60

• "==" Way: These are the lanes of the opposite direction of this motorway.
• "#" Node: device,
• "*" Node: from
• "o" Node: to (mandatory, because the device is not on the road)

Example 4: Speed camera for both directions

A speed camera next to the street, that can be turned in both directions.

W----------*-------o--------------E
               #

Relation1: type=enforcement enforcement=maxspeed maxspeed=60

• "#" Node: device, highway=speed_camera
• "*" Node: from
• "o" Node: to

Relation2: type=enforcement enforcement=maxspeed maxspeed=60

• "#" Node: device,
• "o" Node: from
• "*" Node: to

Note: This is not done in one relation, because then it would not be normalized.

Example 5: Distance between vehicles

A camera films your vehicle, measuring if you have enough distance to the vehicle ahead, only for vehicles from the west going to the east.

W--------*----#######--o----------E
                           

Relation: type=enforcement enforcement=mindistance

• "#" Way: device, (Because the camera covers a larger distance of the street, use "way" not "node")
• "*" Node: from
• "o" Node: to

Example 6: Maximum weight

The police separates some heavy goods vehicles from the motorway to the parking lot to check for maxweight violations.

W--------*----------------o----------E
             \        /   
              \-####-/            

Relation: type=enforcement enforcement=maxweight

• "#" Way: device, (This is the large hgv scale, so it's not a node but a way or an area.)
• "*" Node: from
• "o" Node: to

Example 7: Height check before tunnel

(This example is found at Elbtunnel, Hamburg, Germany) A light barrier checking if a vehicle coming from the west violates the maxheight for a tunnel. If a vehicle is too high to pass, an automatic red light and road block will be activated.

W--------*----#--§--=====o----------E
             \
              \  

Relation: type=enforcement enforcement=maxheight maxheight=3.80 or maxheight:legal=3.80, if you want: maxheight:physical=3.89

• "#" Node: device, maxheight=3.80 (Maxheight needed for the rendering)
• "*" Node: from (Here a sign says: Turn right if your vehicle is higher than 3.8m)
• "===" Way: tunnel=yes, maxheight=3.80 or maxheight:legal=3.80
• "o" Node: to
• "§" Node: force (Here an automatic traffic light stops you, if your vehicle is too high)

Note: Why is this so much more complicated than the other examples? Height checking devices are not for fun, and not for collecting fees, they are installed to avoid trucks crashing against tunnel walls. Therefore there are often automatic road blocking installations. If such installations are not present, the "force" role is optional, of course!

Example 8: Highway traffic signals activated by speed radar

A speed radar which activates the red light of a highway=traffic_signals + traffic_signals=signal

W----------*---#-------S-----o-----E

Relation: type=enforcement + enforcement=maxspeed + maxspeed=50

• "*" Node: from
• "#" Node: device
• "S" Node: force (node with traffic signal highway=traffic_signals + traffic_signals=signal)
• "o" Node: to

Example: 14153746 14153746

Example 9: Highway average speed radar

Speed and time get by the first camera

Speed and time get by the second camera

W---*---#-----------------------#-----o-----E

Relation: type=enforcement + enforcement=average_speed + maxspeed=80

• "*" Node: from
• "#" Node: device
• "#" Node: device
• "o" Node: to

Example: 4048720 4048720

Tutorials

• JOSM-Editor
• iD-Editor
• Potlatch-Editor

Rendering

• OSM Blitzermap

Quality assurance

Possible Mistagging

enforcement=red_light_camera

		$1%
		$1%
		$1%
		$1%

More details at taginfo

• enforcement=red_light_camera ‒ Consider to use enforcement=traffic_signals

If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!

Missing maxspeed value for enforcement relations

• Overpass turbo query

See also

• highway=speed_camera – another tagging scheme for speed limit enforcement cameras
• man_made=surveillance - A surveillance camera or other type of surveillance equipment
• highway=speed_display - a dynamic electronic sign that displays the speed of the passer-by motorist
• amenity=weighbridge - a large weight scale to weigh vehicles and goods
• barrier=height_restrictor - a height restrictor which prevents access of vehicles higher than a set limit
• Original proposal