New AI cameras to be used to cut deaths on road

There have been 22 fatal or serious injury incidents on the stretch of road since the start of 2023

Artificial intelligence cameras, which can spot motorists who text while driving, are being set up on a road after a rise in serious crashes.

Nine people have died in less than two years on the A361 near Frome, Somerset.

It will be the first time the new technology will be used in the county. The cameras can also spot if a driver is breaking the speed limit or not wearing a seatbelt.

Avon and Somerset Police's acting Insp Matt Boiles said: "Telling families is just horrendous. Seeing people's worlds literally fall apart in front of your eyes is awful."

Officers carried out "a day of action" along the A361 on Wednesday, as the force tried to tackle the rise in incidents.

This included unmarked police cars being positioned along the route, speed detection equipment and other activities.

A force spokesperson added that there have been 22 fatal or serious injury incidents on the route since the start of 2023.

Acting Insp Matt Boiles said the force is looking to use the new AI cameras "in the very near future"

Mr Boiles said: "Artificial intelligence camera technology is becoming available to us and we're looking to implement that in the very near future.

"It's all about [public] confidence in us and them feeling safe on the road networks. It's a problem that we need to address and we are taking it very seriously."

He added that taking precautionary measures will hopefully reduce trauma for grieving families, as well as the police workforce.

Madison, 21, and Liberty North, 17, were killed instantly - the day before Maddie was due to graduate.

The parents of two sisters who died on the road have said they feel "let down" due to the further loss of life since their daughters' deaths.

Madison, 21, and Liberty North, 17, were killed instantly in a high-speed car crash in July last year, the day before Maddie was due to graduate.

Thomas Lenthall, 40, was jailed on two counts of causing their deaths by dangerous driving.

Verity and Jason, Maddie and Libby's parents, said: "These accidents could be avoidable, and any future accidents could be limited if only the A361 had some form of speed control.

"I hear cars and bikes using this particular road as a race track.

"This accident has flipped our lives upside down, and I would not wish any more families to go through a similar scenario."

Local MP Anna Sabine has been meeting with road safety charities

Other new safety measures are to be implemented on the road after the Liberal Democrat MP for Frome and East Somerset, Anna Sabine, called together Somerset Council and the police at a meeting to try to address the issues.

They include better signing and road markings and cutting back vegetation to improve visibility.

Ms Sabine said: "I'm just going to try and do everything I can to make people in this area as aware as possible that we have lovely countryside, but we also have some very fast A-roads through them.

"We all just need to be a little bit more sensible about what we're trying to achieve in terms of our speed and our behaviour."