Distracted drivers to be targeted by AI cameras
Police are trialling new super duper AI cameras
Press Release
Police forces are testing out new AI cameras which are designed to spot drivers who are distracted at the wheel not just speeders. They will be able to identify drivers using handheld mobile phones while they are driving, not wearing their seatbelts, eating, swigging a tinny (eating and drinking while driving is not actually illegal, but anything which can lead to distracted driving can have legal consequences), or doing anything which is prohibited and might take their attention away from the road.
The RAC are reporting on this and their road safety spokesman Rod Dennis said:
“Despite the penalties for using a handheld phone having doubled to six penalty points and a £200 fine seven years ago, it’s clear far too many drivers are still prepared to put lives at risk by engaging in this dangerous practice. We suspect a major reason for this is a lack of enforcement, meaning many drivers have no fear of being caught.”
The idea of the new AI cameras is that this tech will enable the police to watch far more drivers much more of the time, without having to increase actual manpower.
Despite what you might be thinking at this point, the RAC say that their research shows that nearly half of drivers are supportive of a stronger arm of the law regarding mobile phone use, as they believe it’s dangerous. Drivers, broadly speaking, support the introduction of these machines as a good way to solve the problem. It will be interesting to hear what motorcyclists think. Motorcyclists may be in favour of it too, as drivers on their phones is a real problem for motorcyclists and scooter riders, who already suffer from numerous SMIDSY incidents which are exacerbated by drivers using their phones instead of concentrating on the road and the other traffic.
However, whatever it might sound like on paper, are we all confident that the tech will actually work? Unconfirmed reports say that many of the motorway surveillance systems on smart motorways currently don't work properly, or the cameras are pointing in the wrong direction and not recording the traffic where they are suposed to.
Shockingly, the RAC has also released figures recently to say that drink driving fatalities have returned to the levels of the late 1980s! Will the new cameras be able to spot drivers behaving erratically after an afternoon in the pub?
The RAC response to the drink drive data is:
"The UK may have an enviable record on road safety compared to many other countries, but there's no getting away from the fact that overall casualty numbers aren't really decreasing anymore.
The data for Scotland suggests merely reducing the legal drink-drive limit isn't enough. Drivers need to be prevented from being able to drink drive in the first place, or at least believe there's a very good chance of being caught. Data suggest a significant number of drink-drive offences are committed by reoffenders, so there's a good case for fitting alcolocks which stop someone over the limit from starting a car. But there's also a very strong argument for an increase in enforcement, something that will alwyas be a challenge for as long as police resources are tight."
What do you think about all of this? Do you welcome more surveillance on car drivers or hate the modern Big Brother world and see it as yet another infringement of civil liberties?
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