Police in England installed an AI camera system along a major road. It caught almost 300 drivers breaking the law in its first 3 days.

• An AI camera system installed along a major road in England caught 300 offenses in its first 3 days.
• There were 180 seat belt offenses and 117 mobile phone offenses, according to police.
• The AI system, from tech company Acusensus, has been trialed in England and Australia over the last year.

Well that was fast.

Police in England installed an AI camera system along a major road — 72 hours later, it had caught almost 300 drivers breaking the law. After 5 more days, that number rose to 1,000.

The police force in Cornwall, a county in the south of England, recently began trialing an AI road safety camera system to detect offenses like drivers not wearing their seatbelts or texting while driving. Made by AI technology company Acusensus, the system flagged nearly 180 seat-belt offenses and 117 mobile phone offenses, Vision Zero South West, a collaborative project between several organizations in the region including police, stated in a press release. 

The free-standing camera system was installed along the A30, a major road that stretches from London to the southwest tip of the country. The system reviews traffic flow in the areas where it’s deployed, then records clear images of passing vehicles using high shutter speeds, an infrared flash, and a lensing and filtering system. AI then reviews the images, flagging those showing potential offending drivers. Photos flagged by the AI are then sent to a person for review.

If an offense was correctly identified, the driver is then sent either a notice of warning or intended prosecution, depending on the severity of the offense.

This is not the first time an AI surveillance system has been used to catch offenders on the road. AI-powered cameras have been used for years to detect everything from public intoxication to drowsiness in delivery drivers. The Acusensus system has been trialed over the past year in multiple locations across England and Australia, according to the company.

An initiative earlier this year, also in the UK, involved AI cameras being set up along highways to catch drivers throwing trash out their car windows. The Barcelona subway system uses an AI video analytics system to catch fare evaders, and the NYC subway system recently began using the same AI software to analyze fare evasion patterns.

Adrian Leisk, the head of road safety for the Devon and Cornwall Police, said in a press release that the number of drivers using their phones behind the wheel and not wearing seatbelts was disappointing.

“We are employing this new technology to send a clear message to anyone who continues to use their phone behind the wheel,” Leisk said. “You will get caught.”

Additional reporting by Grace Dean.