Senior police officer Denis Pavela urges drivers to follow traffic signs, while the Vukovar-Srijem Police Department announces a week of enhanced speed controls from August 3 to 9 as part of the European Union traffic police network operation.
As the summer tourist season continues, Dubrovnik's traffic police are warning of increasingly dangerous situations caused by drivers' blind trust in GPS navigation devices. Meanwhile, the Vukovar-Srijem Police Department has announced enhanced speed enforcement across all roads in the county as part of an international operation starting August 3, 2026.
Denis Pavela, senior traffic police officer for traffic prevention at the Dubrovnik Traffic Police Station, told JUGInfo.hr that navigation systems are a useful tool but also a potential hazard if trusted more than road signage. "GPS greatly facilitates travel by guiding drivers to their desired address, reducing aimless wandering, and improving traffic flow. When people know where they're going, there are fewer unnecessary stops and traffic jams," Pavela said for JUGInfo.hr.
However, problems arise when traffic regulations on the ground change but navigation maps remain outdated. "It happens that GPS directs a driver into a one-way street or toward a traffic solution that no longer exists. Such situations are not rare and can lead to seriously dangerous moments for all road users," Pavela warns.
One location where errors are frequently recorded is the intersection near the Health Center in Dubrovnik. According to Pavela, drivers relying on outdated navigation instructions attempt to use a traffic direction that was previously allowed but is no longer. "Traffic regulations change, and navigation maps sometimes lag behind in updates. That's why drivers can end up in situations that endanger their own safety as well as the safety of other road users," he explained.
Police emphasize that final decisions must always be based on traffic signs. "Drivers should use GPS as an aid for orientation, but final decisions must always be based on traffic signs. On-site signage is the only authoritative source because it reflects the actual state of traffic," Pavela concludes.
While the south of Croatia deals with navigation errors, the east focuses on speed. According to a report from Press032, fixed speed cameras in the Vukovar-Srijem Police Department area recorded 53 speeding violations just yesterday, July 30, 2026. No traffic accidents were recorded in the area that day.
The Vukovar-Srijem Police Department announced that from August 3 to 9, 2026, it will conduct a preventive-repressive operation of enhanced speed enforcement on all roads in the county as part of the European Union traffic police network. All available speed enforcement devices will be used, including locations reported by citizens during the previous period.
As reported by Kurir.rs, this is an international traffic enforcement operation aimed at detecting speeding violations, which will be conducted from August 3 to 9 in 34 European countries that are members of ROADPOL, the European traffic police network. This operation follows Serbia's eighth central traffic enforcement operation, which ran from July 31 to August 2, 2026, and resulted in nearly 5,880 violations detected on the first day alone. Of these, 3,544 drivers were sanctioned for speeding, 519 for not wearing seat belts, and 176 for driving under the influence of alcohol. Thirty-two individuals were detained in official premises for driving with more than 1.20 per mille of alcohol in their system.
