Council trials driver distraction detection

State-of-the-art cameras which can automatically detect drivers using mobile phones behind the wheel or not wearing a seat belt are being trialled in Greater Manchester. The ‘Heads Up’ technology from Acusensus captures footage of passing vehicles before the images are processed using artificial intelligence (AI) to detect potential offending drivers.

Footage deemed to contain evidence of an offence is sent for a secondary human check to confirm that an offence has occurred. If an image shows that no offence has been committed, it is deleted immediately by the software and no further action will be taken.

The trial will be used by Safer Roads Greater Manchester as a traffic survey to understand how many drivers still choose to break the law. This data will be used to refine future road safety campaigns aiming to improve compliance of mobile phone and seat belt use by drivers.