Road users are warned, that there’s a new tech in town and it’s bad news for drivers using their mobile phones whilst driving on the road.
The technology is housed within a new van which is currently running trials in partnership with Warwickshire Police and is also designed to tell if someone is wearing their seatbelts too. The new high-tech vans can also detect motorists driving dangerously and hoped will be a useful tool in ensuring better road safety.
The van has already been out and about on motorways and major A-roads across England. This whole new project will be vital in getting data and a better understanding of the scale of the problem involving dangerous driving offences, with the vehicle parked on the side of the road while in use. The van is fitted with multiple cameras which can record footage of passing motorists.
Artificial intelligence
All the images taken by the onboard cameras are then processed using artificial intelligence (AI) to identify if motorists were using handheld mobile phones or travelling in the vehicle without seatbelts, and they’ll then be issued a warning letter by the police indicating that they could be fined up to £500 for not wearing a seatbelt, as well as the possibility of receiving penalty points.
On top of that, drivers will be requested to complete a short questionnaire and survey which will be used to inform the research being carried out by National Highways.
Trial period
The trial period will initially be set up for a period of three months, and the data accumulated will be used to create a roadmap for the next steps and any additional deployment or more technology to be implemented in the detection of tailgating offences.
Jeremy Phillips, Head of Road Safety for the National Highways said recently, “Safety remains our top priority and we want everyone to get to their destination safely.
“Sadly, there are still drivers who do not feel the need to wear a seatbelt and become distracted by their phones or travel too close to the vehicle in front.
“We want to see if we can change driver behaviour and therefore improve road safety for everyone. Our advice is clear; please leave enough space, buckle up and give the road your full attention.”
Nicholas Lyes, the head of roads policy for the RAC, added: “We’re extremely pleased to see National Highways and Warwickshire Police working together on this, and very much hope other Police forces follow suit in a bid to make our roads safer.”
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