Adverse weather is a recurring cause of accidents on European motorways, and the risk varies sharply with terrain and climate. Two MATIS partners, working in contrasting geographical contexts, have each deployed a system suited to their local conditions
APCAP – Scutvias: anticipating the risk before it reaches the driver
On the A23 motorway in Portugal, around the Gardunha Tunnel, our partner APCAP – Scutvias addressed this by integrating new weather stations, installed at strategic high-altitude points and equipped with multiple sensors, into the existing C-ITS infrastructure. Data is collected continuously and transmitted via a secure telecom network to the Traffic Control Centre (TCC). When readings exceed predefined safety thresholds, the system triggers alerts that feed directly into traffic management actions: dynamic speed limit adjustments, warnings on Variable Message Signs (VMS), and real-time hazard information sent to connected vehicles via V2I communication.
What makes the deployment distinctive is how tightly weather data collection and traffic management are integrated. Rather than alerting operators only once conditions have already deteriorated, the system turns sensor readings straight into operational decisions, reaching the control room and drivers at the same time, with enough warning to adapt. The benefits follow directly from that speed: weather-related accidents become less frequent, traffic flows more smoothly with fewer bottlenecks and fuel use and emissions fall.
Autovia Padana – SINA: guiding drivers through foggy landscape
The challenge on the A21 Piacenza–Cremona–Brescia motorway is shaped by a very different geography. The Po Valley is one of Europe’s foggiest regions, and the 12.9 km section between the Fiorenzuola junction and Cremona station regularly sees visibility drop to near zero. Our partners Autovia Padana and SINA responded by replacing passive orange reflectors with active LED signs: yellow/amber edge delineators installed every 25 metres along the traffic divider, in both directions, managed centrally by the TCC.
The logic behind the choice is simple: passive reflectors only work when a vehicle’s headlights hit them, exactly the condition fog removes. The active LED system creates a continuous luminous guide along the motorway route that holds regardless of ambient visibility, helping drivers maintain a safe trajectory through conditions where standard road markings effectively disappear. That continuity shows up directly in the results: secondary accidents become fewer and less severe, congestion and travel-time losses fall, and fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions drop with them.
