AI cameras catch drivers on phone or without belts

The cameras will identify a potential offence before the image goes through a two-stage human check

Thousands of motorists have been caught using their phone and not wearing seat belts after the launch of a new state-of-the-art AI camera system.

More than 3,200 people were captured using their mobiles while driving or not wearing seat belts over a five-week period in Greater Manchester.

Images captured by the ‘Heads Up’ camera system, show drivers holding mobile phones in front of their face, to their ear while behind the wheel, sometimes with passengers – including children – next to them.

Kate Green, Greater Manchester's deputy mayor, said she hoped the images were a "wake up call" to many.

She said the images, launched as part of a trial to understand the situation in the region, "speak for themselves".

Any offences detected as part of the trial can be passed to the police for them to consider further action, Transport for Greater Manchester said

The system recorded 812 drivers distracted by using mobile phones behind the wheel, and 2,393 incidents of seat belt non-compliance.

In several cases the cameras, which use a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and human reviewers to detect offences, also found adult and child passengers not being securely fastened in their seats, or not wearing seat belts at all.

Dame Sarah Storey, active travel commissioner for Greater Manchester, said: “The results of the trial show the horrifying truth behind the number of drivers who still don't consider how their behaviour behind the wheel of their vehicle can affect themselves, their passengers and other people using the roads.

During the trial, the Heads Up system recorded 2,393 incidents of seat belt non-compliance by drivers or passengers

“Statistics show you are four times more likely to be involved in a collision if you use your phone while driving and twice as likely to die if you don't wear a seatbelt."

The findings, released in support of Greater Manchester’s Vision Zero Strategy and Action Plan to eliminate road deaths and life-changing injury by 2040, was held across the city-region throughout September and October.

No one has yet been prosecuted from the trial.