1. A method of monitoring one or more vehicles passing through an area within a field of view of a scene observed by a video camera, the method comprising: receiving video data representing the field of view of the scene observed by the video camera; using video analytics to track the one or more vehicles represented in the video data; configuring a detection zone within the area, the detection zone including an entrance side and an exit side positioned opposite to each other and thereby defining opposite sides of the detection zone, the detection zone comprising a specified region of vehicle travel; signaling an occurrence of an event when the one or more tracked vehicles is continually present in the detection zone during a period beginning when the tracked object of interest enters the detection zone on the entrance side and ending when the tracked object of interest leaves the detection zone from the exit side; performing a count of the one or more vehicles; and using the count of vehicles to monitor vehicle traffic patterns in the specified region.