NIHTE Seeks AI-powered Traffic Enforcement To Curb Road Violations
The Nigerian Institution of Highway and Transportation Engineers (NIHTE), Ibadan Chapter, has called for the deployment of artificial intelligence and intelligent transport systems to strengthen traffic enforcement, improve road safety and reduce violations across the country.
The call was made by the Chairman of the Ibadan Chapter, Lawal Sulaiman Olalekan, during his inauguration as the fourth chairman of the chapter at its sixth annual conference held in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Saturday.
The conference, themed, “Drivers’ Traffic Violations and Their Impact on Highway Performance: Empirical Evidence from AI-Based System in Nigeria,” also featured the inauguration of the chapter’s new executive members.
Olalekan said the adoption of AI-powered cameras, automated number plate recognition (ANPR) and other smart traffic management technologies would enhance compliance with traffic regulations while improving safety, efficiency and sustainability across Nigeria’s road networks.
He explained that intelligent traffic control systems could analyse real-time data generated from cameras, sensors and GPS devices to detect traffic violations, ease congestion, predict traffic build-ups and automatically adjust traffic signals.
According to him, the technology would not only reduce travel time and fuel consumption but also help prevent accidents associated with human error and poor coordination of traffic.
Olalekan further noted that automated enforcement could provide an additional source of revenue for governments through fines imposed on motorists who violate traffic regulations.
He said, “It will also lead to massive revenue generation for the government through fines from traffic violations and enforcement of road regulations.
“So, it is going to be a win-win for the government and citizens who will enjoy good traffic coordination.”
The newly inaugurated chairman also outlined his administration’s priorities, including members’ welfare, professional training, project supervision and technical visits.
He pledged to strengthen collaboration between the institution and contractors, researchers and other stakeholders in the construction industry to improve professional standards and contribute to the development of the country’s transportation infrastructure.
A guest lecturer at the conference, Dr Adeolu Dina, of the Department of Transport Management, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, said the limitations of manual traffic enforcement had created significant gaps in Nigeria’s road management system.
Dina said traffic violations carried substantial economic and social costs, stressing that AI-based enforcement could improve motorists’ compliance with traffic regulations.
He noted that countries that had adopted intelligent traffic enforcement technologies recorded reductions in road violations, adding that road construction alone could not resolve Nigeria’s transportation challenges without effective enforcement and improved road-user behaviour.
He urged the government to formulate policies that would facilitate the prompt adoption and implementation of AI-powered traffic management systems.
According to him, such policies should encourage multidisciplinary collaboration, support the development of reliable traffic databases and provide adequate safeguards for data privacy.
Earlier, the National Chairman of NIHTE, Dr Bola Mudashiru, cautioned that technology alone could not eliminate traffic violations, stressing the need to address motorists’ behaviour.
Mudashiru said effective traffic management depended not only on the deployment of technology but also on how motorists used the nation’s roads.
He expressed concern over the continued disregard for traffic regulations and the rights of other road users by some motorists.
The NIHTE national chairman said AI and computer vision systems would be more effective when motorists understood that traffic violations could be automatically detected and penalised.
He consequently called on governments, particularly the Oyo State Government, to increase investment in intelligent transport systems, including AI-powered cameras and automated number plate recognition technology.
Mudashiru said the systems would enable traffic authorities to monitor road users from central control rooms, strengthen enforcement and improve overall traffic management.
