Police in England installed an AI camera system along a major road — 72 hours later, it had caught almost 300 drivers breaking the law. After 5 more days, that number rose to 1,000.
The police force in Cornwall, a county in the south of England, recently began trialling an AI road safety camera system to detect offences like drivers not wearing their seatbelts or texting while driving. Made by AI technology company Acusensus, the system flagged nearly 180 seat-belt offences and 117 mobile phone offences, Vision Zero South West, a collaborative project between several organisations in the region including police, stated in a press release.
The free-standing camera system was installed along the A30, a major road that stretches from London to the southwest tip of the country. The system reviews traffic flow in the areas where it’s deployed, then records clear images of passing vehicles using high shutter speeds, an infrared flash, and a lensing and filtering system. AI then reviews the images, flagging those showing potential offending drivers. Photos flagged by the AI are then sent to a person for review.
If an offence was correctly identified, the driver is then sent either a notice of warning or intended prosecution, depending on the severity of the offence.
This is not the first time an AI surveillance system has been used to catch offenders on the road. AI-powered cameras have been used for years to detect everything from public intoxication to drowsiness in delivery drivers. The Acusensus system has been trialled over the past year in multiple locations across England and Australia, according to the company.
An initiative earlier this year, also in the UK, involved AI cameras being set up along highways to catch drivers throwing trash out their car windows. The Barcelona subway system uses an AI video analytics system to catch fare evaders, and the NYC subway system recently began using the same AI software to analyse fare evasion patterns.
Adrian Leisk, the head of road safety for the Devon and Cornwall Police, said in a press release that the number of drivers using their phones behind the wheel and not wearing seatbelts was disappointing.
