The UK manager of road safety technology company Acusensus, Geoff Collins, has described as “alarming” new research which found 43% of young car occupants who die in road crashes aren’t wearing a seatbelt, arguing this justifies authorities’ use of technology to police the problem.
The AA Charitable Trust discovered three-in-ten young drivers aged 29 or under who die in car crashes are not belted, 95% of whom are male. Overall, a third of drivers who died unbelted were aged 17-29, despite this age group only accounting for around 14% of driving licences.
Acusensus developed its “Heads Up” Artificial Intelligence technology which uses specially equipped cameras to see through the windscreen and into the vehicle, identifying cases where people are not wearing a seatbelt or using a mobile phone as they drive past. The company has already delivered the technology to 19 police forces in trials and operational projects across the UK.
“In the two years I have been with Acusensus, numerous people have commented to me that those who break seatbelt rules and are seriously injured or killed in a subsequent crash only have themselves to blame,” commented Mr Collins. “This may lead to a subconscious view that seatbelt laws should not be such a priority for enforcement. However, just stop to think of the emotional cost for all those having to deal with fatal and serious road injuries – from the families, to other drivers involved, to the emergency services who have had to deal with casualties. Surely, when people do stupid things, but there is technology to dissuade them from doing so, shouldn’t we use it to save them from themselves?”
Mr Collins mentioned the “harrowing” case studies shared by the AA Trust of people killed in road crashes just as they were embarking on their adult lives. “What really upsets me is that we have technology that could’ve dissuaded them from driving un-belted, and that means they could be alive today,” he added. “Surely we should be trying to save people from themselves, and if we identify and censure people driving without a seatbelt, they’d be much more likely to belt up in future.”
Acusensus analysis has found around three per cent of drivers are not wearing a seatbelt, while The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) reports that 30% of vehicle occupants killed in road collisions were found not to be wearing one. These figures starkly illustrate the strong link between seatbelt use and the risk of death in a collision. By changing behaviour and making seatbelt wearing habitual, the trauma associated with these preventable fatalities could be avoided.
(Pictures – Yay Images, Acusensus, Devon and Cornwall Police)
