AI camera test catches more than 3,200 drivers red-handed | United Kingdom | News

Paralympic cycling legend Dame Sarah Storey has praised a new artificial intelligence (AI) camera test that caught 3,205 motorists on their phones or not wearing seatbelts in five weeks.

Footage captured by the ‘Heads Up’ camera system, developed by Acusensus, shows drivers with their phones in front of them on video calls or to their ears on voice calls.

In other cases, which were also part of the five-week trial in Greater Manchester, the state-of-the-art AI system detected adult and child drivers and passengers not wearing life-saving seat belts.

‘Heads Up’ cameras capture images of passing vehicles processed using AI to detect drivers who are potentially breaking the law and putting themselves, their passengers and other road users at risk.

The trial recorded 812 drivers distracted by the use of mobile phones while driving and 2,393 incidents of non-compliance with seat belt use by drivers or passengers. So far no one has been prosecuted in court.

The AI ​​test has been hailed by Dame Sarah Storey, 47, Britain’s most decorated Paralympian with 30 medals (19 gold, 8 silver and three bronze), in her role as active travel commissioner for Greater Manchester.

She said: “The results show the ugly truth behind the number of drivers who still do not consider how their behavior behind the wheel of their vehicle can affect themselves, their passengers and other people using the roads.

“Statistics show that you are four times more likely to be in a collision if you use your phone while driving and twice as likely to die if you are not wearing a seat belt.”

“Together with driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs and speeding, mobile phone use and failure to wear a seat belt constitute the four fatalities, the main causes of serious injuries and death on the roads of the United Kingdom, which claim the lives of around 1,000 people a year in Greater Manchester.

“As the region prepares to adopt Vision Zero, which aims to eliminate all deaths and serious injuries on our roads by 2040, it is imperative that we address the problem of those drivers who do not take their driving responsibility seriously.”

The trial use of AI as the first filter meant that cameras checked hundreds of thousands of vehicles from September 3 to October 24, which would take a human several months.

Images flagged by AI then go through a human verification phase to confirm that a violation has occurred. If no crime has been committed, the image is deleted immediately.

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) said drivers were four times more likely to have an accident if they used their phone while driving and twice as likely to die in an accident if they were not wearing a seatbelt.

Drivers caught in the trial were given warning letters reminding them they faced fines of up to £500 for not wearing a seatbelt, with penalty points and possible fines of £1,000 for using their phone without hands-free.

Kate Green, Deputy Mayor for Safer, Stronger Communities for Greater Manchester, said: “Distractions such as using mobile phones while driving and not wearing seatbelts are key factors in a number of traffic collisions on our roads that have caused the death of people or suffering life-changing injuries.

“This trial was launched so we could better understand the scale of this problem in Greater Manchester, and the images speak for themselves.

“They show drivers putting themselves and others (including young children) at risk unnecessarily and, unfortunately, we know that being distracted for just a second or not wearing your seatbelt correctly can have devastating consequences.

“We are embracing Vision Zero’s ambition to end all life-changing deaths and injuries, and we know more needs to be done to make our roads safer, healthier and more sustainable for pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and motorists.

“I hope these images serve as a wake-up call to drivers and passengers about the importance of not driving distracted and respecting the use of seat belts.”

As part of Greater Manchester’s Vision Zero strategy and action plan to eliminate road deaths and life-changing injuries by 2040, the images and data will be used for safety campaigns.

First implemented in Sweden in the 1990s, Vision Zero has been adopted in other areas of Europe and the United States.

In the last 10 years, almost 10,000 people living, working or visiting Greater Manchester have been killed or seriously injured on our roads.

Between 2018 and 2022, pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists accounted for almost two-thirds of those killed or seriously injured, while drivers and passengers accounted for 34 percent of victims.

In 2022, there were 71 road traffic deaths or serious injuries each month in Greater Manchester. In total, 64 people died throughout the year (25 of them pedestrians) and each of these deaths was preventable.

Geoff Collins, CEO of Acusensus, said: “This evidence shows that some drivers on Greater Manchester roads engage in dangerous driving behavior that puts themselves and other road users at risk.

“We can now use this knowledge to address problems intelligently, making every trip safer for everyone.”