More police forces will use new AI-based road cameras

New AI-based roadside cameras are being deployed across England that can detect motorists handling their mobiles illegally, and/or not wearing their seat belts. A trial of the tech is expanding to a further ten police forces, and there’s talk of taking it nationwide.

The cameras work by filming every driver that passes, and then putting the footage through an AI-based processing system. That, in turn, works out if an offence has been committed. All the footage of regulation-compliant drivers gets deleted, but the images of offenders are captured and passed onto the local police force to take action.

The consequence for not wearing a seat belt is a (maximum) £500 fine and penalty points. Meanwhile anyone caught using a mobile phone gets six points on their licence and as much as a £1,000 fine.

Last year, Devon and Cornwall trialled the mobile roadside camera tech, which is attached to a van parked on the verge, and caught almost three hundred offenders in three days. Those offenders just received a letter of warning.

National Highways said that research shows drivers are four times more likely to be involved in a collision when using a phone while driving, and twice as likely to die in a crash if you don’t wear a seat belt.

The police forces taking part in the trial are: Durham, Greater Manchester Police, Humberside, Staffordshire, West Mercia, Northamptonshire, Wiltshire, Norfolk, Thames Valley Police and Sussex. And this week, South Gloucestershire became the latest authority to deploy the cameras – notably, for research rather than enforcement.

National Highways said there are plans to fix these cameras to gantries "to give an unobscured view of all lanes".

Matt Staton, head of national road user safety delivery at National Highways, said: “We know that distracted driving and not wearing seatbelts were key factors in a high number of incidents that resulted in people being killed or seriously injured.

“Working with our police partners we want to reduce such dangerous driving and reduce the risks posed to both the drivers and other people. We believe that using technology like this will make people seriously consider their driving behaviour.

“We will continue to invest in technology that could help make sure everyone using our roads gets home safe and well.”