Speed Camera Alerts in Taiwan
ZeroCyl's Speed cameras mode uses your GPS position and direction of travel to alert you only to cameras ahead of you in your direction, and warn you when you go over the speed limit. The aim is to help you watch your speed and drive safely.
Three kinds of speed enforcement
Fixed speed cameras
Camera poles or boxes at fixed locations that capture the speed of passing vehicles at that moment. Under Article 7-2 of Taiwan's Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例), a speed enforcement warning sign must be posted ahead: about 100 to 300 m before it on ordinary roads, and about 300 to 1,000 m before it on freeways and expressways.
Average-speed zones (section control)
Your car is recorded once at the start and once at the end of a stretch of road, and the average speed over the whole section is calculated from the time taken. They are common in tunnels and on expressways. Slowing down only at the camera won't help: keep to the limit for the entire section.
Mobile speed traps
Police enforce at the roadside with handheld or tripod-mounted speed equipment, at locations that change. ZeroCyl's mobile speed trap information comes from real-time reports by other drivers.
How ZeroCyl alerts you
- Staged alerts: above 80 km/h, alerts come at 1,000, 500, 200 and 100 m; at lower speeds, at 400, 200, 100 and 50 m. The first is a full voice alert (e.g. "In 1 kilometer, speed camera, speed limit 90"); after that you hear the remaining distance and the speed limit.
- Only ahead, in your direction: when the data includes the direction a camera faces, cameras for the opposite lanes and cameras you've already passed don't trigger alerts.
- Speeding warning: if you go over the limit within the alert range, your speed turns red, with a warning tone and a "You're speeding" voice alert.
- Passing notice: after you pass a camera you'll hear "Passed the speed camera". If you turn off before reaching it, you won't.
- Average-speed zones: once you enter a section, ZeroCyl keeps calculating your average speed, alerts you when it's over the limit, and tells you when you're back within it.
- Elevated and surface roads: elevated roads often run right above roads going the same way, and your position can't show which level you're on. For cameras the data marks as on an elevated road, under one, or on an expressway, the voice and screen say so, e.g. "Speed camera, elevated road".
- Alerts in Engine sound mode too: the engine sound dips automatically during voice alerts. You can turn this off in Settings.
Where the data comes from
- Government open data: "Speed Enforcement Locations" (測速執法設置點) from the National Police Agency, Ministry of the Interior (Taiwan), and "Fixed Speed Camera Locations on National Freeways" (國道公路固定式測速照相地點) from the Freeway Bureau, Ministry of Transportation and Communications.
- Speed camera data published by city and county police departments, filling in locations the national data doesn't cover.
- Speed camera housing locations published by Hong Kong's Transport Department (a housing doesn't always contain a camera).
- Speed cameras tagged by the OpenStreetMap community (Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau), used only to fill in locations with no official camera nearby, and labeled "OSM". © OpenStreetMap contributors, licensed under the ODbL.
The data is checked for updates automatically every day. ZeroCyl does not use data from other speed camera apps.
Mobile speed trap reports
- See a speed trap at the roadside? Tap "Report mobile camera" once to send your current location and direction. Tap again within 5 seconds to cancel.
- Drivers behind you going the same way get an alert as they approach. People who pass a reported spot can tap "Still there" or "Gone" to keep the information accurate.
- A report expires 60 minutes after the last confirmation. Places and times with frequent reports are turned into "Frequent speed-trap spot" alerts.
- Reporting needs no account, and your driving route is not stored. See the Privacy Policy.
Limitations
- Public data may not promptly reflect new or removed cameras or speed limit changes. Alerts are for reference only; always follow the signs and speed limits on the road.
- Public data has only one point for each average speed section. If that point isn't the start of the section, the average speed only covers the latter part.
- The phone web version needs ZeroCyl to stay on screen. If you switch to another app or lock the screen, the phone pauses the web page, and you won't get alerts during that time.
- Speed camera alerts are meant to help you watch your speed, not to evade enforcement. Always keep to the speed limit and focus on driving.