Thousands of drivers were caught by new artificial intelligence (AI) cameras, for using their phone while driving or not wearing a seat belt. The five-week trial, conducted in Greater Manchester, combined AI and human reviewers to detect offences.
The ‘Heads Up’ system, developed by Acusensus, captured over 3200 incidents. The cameras initially use AI to scan passing vehicles for potential offences. Any flagged images undergo a two-stage human review to confirm offences.
The system monitored hundreds of thousands of vehicles in September and October, a process that would take human reviewers months to complete.
During the trial, 812 drivers were caught using phones, and 2393 seat belt violations were recorded. No prosecutions have yet occurred. Non-offending images were deleted immediately.