The invention discloses an automatic vehicle overall size measuring system and method based on vision. The system comprises four cameras, four pan tilts, a transverse horizontal camera support, a longitudinal horizontal camera support, an image collection card, a computer system and a position sensor. Each camera is installed in one pan tilt. Two cameras are fixed to the transverse horizontal support, and the other two cameras are fixed to the longitudinal horizontal support. The position sensor is installed at the position, being about to enter the view field range of the cameras, of a vehicle and used for sensing the position of the vehicle, and provides a trigger signal for the computer system. The automatic vehicle overall size measuring system can reduce the cost and has the advantages of being automated, contactless, high in precision, high in adaptability and the like, and can effectively recognize overrunning vehicles, overload vehicles and other illegal vehicles, meet the requirements of vehicles for comprehensive performance detection, and improve highway traffic system monitoring performance and the vehicle management level.