Artificial Intelligence cameras are being installed across Suffolk to help detect drivers using mobile phones and failing to wear seatbelts.
Suffolk Police says the technology will help officers target offenders and save lives, identify potential traffic offences, with images reviewed before any enforcement action is taken. The technology is designed to support road safety by detecting behaviours that contribute to serious collisions.
The AI camera technology is provided by Acusensus, whose systems are already being used by a number of UK police forces to identify drivers using handheld mobile phones and vehicle occupants not wearing seatbelts.
The new cameras form part of the force’s ongoing work to improve road safety and reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on the county’s roads. The force is encouraging all motorists to ensure they comply with road traffic laws, including keeping both hands free while driving and wearing seatbelts correctly at all times.
“Using a handheld mobile phone or not wearing a seatbelt are two of the ‘fatal 4’ factors, most likely to lead to death or serious injury on the roads,” explains Acusensus UK General Manager Geoff Collins. “We now have a proven solution that not only automatically identifies the behaviours, but allows us to deal with them through education or where necessary, prosecution. This project will demonstrate not only the size of problem, but also how we can solve it.”
Suffolk Constabulary has previously trialled this technology and gathered data about the extent of seat belt non-compliance and mobile device use by drivers in the county.
This project is intended to deepen this understanding and importantly will also enable Suffolk Police to take enforcement action where appropriate. Data captured will be shared with other forces and Road Safety partners to help inform future collisions reduction strategies.
The cameras will remain in place for several weeks, before being reviewed and evaluated and once the project has been completed, Suffolk’s Road Safety Team will publish the results and findings.
Chief Inspector Gary Miller, Head of the Roads & Armed Policing Team, said: “Mobile phone use and failing to wear a seatbelt remain significant contributors to death and serious injury on our roads.
“This project will help us better understand the scale of these behaviours in Suffolk while supporting our ongoing efforts to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured.
“The vast majority of motorists travel responsibly and we know they share our concerns about the dangers posed by distraction and other avoidable risks behind the wheel.”
Tim Passmore, Suffolk’s Police & Crime Commissioner, said: “I am a great believer in using technology to improve policing and these new AI cameras will more easily identify drivers who resist wearing seat belts and use their mobile devices whilst driving.
“These cameras will help us to really appreciate the scale of this issue and hopefully, knowing these are in use will encourage the reckless drivers who flout the rules to buckle up and not use mobile devices.
“Every irresponsible driver we can stop, is hopefully another safer and more considerate driver on our roads.”
“Returning once again to Suffolk with our ‘Heads Up’ technology, we aim to show how a seemingly unsolvable problem has a ‘real-world’ solution, that won’t be hugely time consuming for operational policing, allowing them to focus their attention elsewhere,” Geoff Collins of Acusensus concluded. “If we can change driving behaviours for the better, the roads will be safer for everyone.”
(File picture – Acusensus camera images/Sussex Police)
