AI on Our Roads: How Municipalities Are Harnessing Technology to Improve Safety

Highway superintendents are no strangers to phone calls from residents frustrated about speeding cars, stop-sign roll-throughs, or distracted drivers on their local roads. While these concerns are valid, enforcement of traffic laws falls squarely within the realm of law enforcement - not the highway department. Still, it benefits superintendents to be aware of emerging AI-driven enforcement tools. By understanding what solutions exist, they can point residents and local boards toward practical deterrents and even collaborate with sheriff’s departments or police agencies to explore technologies that may reduce violations and improve roadway safety.

Communities across the United States face a persistent challenge: keeping roadways safe in the face of distracted driving, speeding, and other dangerous behaviors. Traditional enforcement - patrol officers monitoring intersections and highways - has always been an essential part of traffic safety, but it is also limited by staffing, budgets, and sheer coverage area. Increasingly, municipalities are turning to artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to augment enforcement, gather real-time data, and reduce violations before they lead to tragedy.

One of the emerging leaders in this field is Obvio, a company offering AI-powered traffic safety systems designed for rapid, low-hassle deployment. Obvio’s technology centers around solar-powered camera pylons that combine sleek, roadside hardware with advanced AI processing built directly into each unit. Unlike older traffic cameras that required significant infrastructure, wiring, and permitting, Obvio’s systems can typically be installed in under a week without the need for grid power or extensive site work.

These pylons use on-device AI and 5G connectivity to monitor traffic behaviors. A single Obvio unit can detect a wide range of unsafe actions, including stop-sign roll-throughs, speeding, distracted driving, seat-belt violations, and red-light infractions. Importantly, the AI processes video locally and only uploads clips that capture a confirmed violation. Footage without violations is blurred or deleted after a short retention period, helping municipalities balance enforcement with privacy protections.

Once an infraction is detected, the system can automatically identify license plates, match them to DMV records, and flag them for human review before forwarding to law enforcement for citation issuance. Obvio provides the hardware to municipalities at no upfront cost, generating revenue through a share of citation proceeds, making adoption possible even for towns with constrained budgets.

The results speak for themselves. In Prince George’s County, Maryland, deployment of Obvio’s AI stop-sign cameras led to a 50 percent reduction in stop-sign violations within eight weeks. Local officials noted that the system delivered safety improvements that would have required many additional officers to replicate.

Beyond enforcement, Obvio’s products also provide valuable data dashboards and reporting tools for municipal leaders. Trends in violations can be tracked, mapped, and presented to councils or community groups. The system can even integrate driver-education features, including customizable message boards and live-stream tablets that allow officers to show motorists the infraction as it happened.

For municipalities, the combination of enforcement, deterrence, and data-driven insight offers a powerful new approach to roadway safety. Officers gain a force multiplier, residents benefit from safer streets, and community leaders receive actionable information to guide infrastructure investments and policy decisions.

AI will never replace the need for skilled officers and responsive traffic engineering, but systems like those offered by Obvio are already proving that technology can help fill gaps, enhance accountability, and, most importantly, save lives. As more municipalities consider how to apply AI responsibly, tools like Obvio’s solar-powered pylons will likely become a common sight along America’s roadways.

Disclaimer: MunicipalMatters.org has no business relationship with Obvio and has not received any form of payment, sponsorship, or consideration for mentioning the company in this article. The reference to Obvio is provided solely for informational purposes to highlight examples of emerging AI technologies in roadway safety.