Texting on the wheel plummeting due to AI Robocops catching drivers
AI-powered traffic cameras which scan the inside of cars and alert police to wrongdoing stopping deadly driver antics. Forces across the country are using the technology
Robocops are so good at catching drivers on their phones texting at the wheel has plummeted. AI-powered traffic cameras scan the inside of vehicles and alert police to wrongdoing.
So far 19 regions across Britain have tested them out. Adam Pipe, head of roads policing in Essex, called the tech ‘phenomenal’.
In Manchester the trial exposed more than 3,000 offences in five weeks. While in Devon and Cornwall the number of people-a-day caught driving without a seatbelt has fallen from 83 in 2023 to just 14 this year.
The on-average 50 instances-a-day of people texting behind the wheel in the force’s area two years ago has dropped to 10.
Adrian Leisk, the head of road safety at Devon and Cornwall police, said: “My colleagues see so many road traffic fatalities where the driver would have survived if they were wearing a seatbelt so we are delighted. Having a couple of officers out there issuing tickets isn’t going to change behaviour because it hasn’t changed it already.
“That’s why we decided to try this tech. And who knows how many people’s lives were saved.”
The force is in its third year of a trial of Australian firm Acusensus’s Robocop tech. Stationed on a moveable crane, each rig has two infrared cameras – one with a steep view to peer into cars from above and another on a shallower spotting angle to catch drivers on the phone.
Every car that goes past is scanned with artificial intelligence technology. If nothing is amiss the picture is instantly and permanently deleted.
But if a potential traffic violation is flagged the image is sent for human verification.
It is examined by contractors at security company Aecom with identifiable features such as the number plate, make of car or location removed. If both bots and humans find the law was broken the full and uncropped image is sent to police.
Once officers have validated the offence motorists are made to take a driver awareness course or – for subsequent law breaches – fined and given points. Leisk said anyone caught with an unrestrained child in their car should expect a police welfare check at their home.
Acusensus’s UK manager Geoff Collins said more forces were expected to take part as feedback from the public had been positive too.
“People do not like other people peering at their phone when they’re driving along at 70 miles per hour,” he said.
Forces reportedly fund the kit themselves. Devon and Cornwall reserves a portion of the fees for culprits’ driving courses though fines go to HM Treasury.
A course in Devon and Cornwall costs between £50 and £100. A fine for using a phone can be £200 and for not wearing a seatbelt up to £500.
Designed by Alexander Jannink and Ravin Mirchandani the cameras were first used in 2018 in Australia.
Jannink said he invented the tech after a pal was killed while riding a bike in Los Angeles, California, US. “It was down to the driver driving under the influence and allegedly using a mobile phone,” he has said.
