Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary has claimed successful results from a trial of an AI equipped camera van on two major roads on its area.
It said more nearly 500 driving offences were identify over a week in a July in an exercise run by the joint operations road policing unit it shares with Thames Valley Police and covering the A34 and A303.
They used a sensor test vehicle provided by infrastructure consultancy AECOM with the Heads-Up alert system from Acusensus, which can detect possible offences including drivers using the phones while on the road.
The van is equipped with two cameras: one set at a shallow angle to identify mobile phone use to the ear and whether the seatbelt is across the driver’s body; the other with a steep view to show use of the phone low down to detect behaviour such as texting. The second camera also provides evidence of seatbelt use by checking the presence of the lap portion of the belt.
Checking for prosecutions
All images of possible offences are automatically captured and sent for checking by AECOM, which then passes them to the police which considers whether the driver should be prosecuted.
Over the week of the trial the van identified 86 drivers suspected of using a phone and 273 motorists or passengers suspected of not wearing a seatbelt.
Simon Gomer, manager of the safer roads unit said: "These are very exciting times and this has been a great opportunity for both forces to utilise the latest in AI technology.
"But the results we've had from just one week sadly show how prolific these offences are. We will continue to spread the message that distracted driving kills, these offences will be punished and social habits need to change."
