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New camera’s will be rolled out in the UK, which can zoom in and see you behind the wheel.
Testing is being conducted for the cameras which will be able to see in your vehicle, catching motorists who use their mobile phone or don’t wear a seat belt.
Ten police forces will be testing out the new technology.
The new equipment is mounted to a vehicle or trailer and has multiple cameras. The cameras offer multiply views from all different angles of the driver and the passengers.
The idea is to fix the cameras to gantries similar to the existing speed cameras.
Durham, Greater Manchester, Humberside, Staffordshire, West Mercia, Northamptonshire, Wiltshire, Norfolk, Thames Valley and Sussex Police forces are set to be trialing out the cameras for 12 months.
Matt Staton, National Highways Head of National Road User Safety Delivery, claimed the new technology would make the UK’s roads safer.
He said: “We know that distracted driving and not wearing seatbelts were key factors in a high number of incidents that resulted in people being killed or seriously injured.
“Working with our police partners we want to reduce such dangerous driving and reduce the risks posed to both the drivers and other people. We believe that using technology like this will make people seriously consider their driving behaviour.
“We will continue to invest in technology that could help make sure everyone using our roads gets home safe and well.”
AI technology will be used to process images taken by the new technology, anything considered to be a breach of safety will be passed over to the relevant police force. Fines for such those who commit an offence, such as not wearing a seat belt whilst driving could be as high as £500 and could also be given penalty points in addition. The more serious offence of using your mobile phone could see users fined up to £1,000 and issued up to 6 penalty points.
The technology was first trialled by National Highways back in 2021 with any offenders only sent warning letters.
Dr Jamie Uff, Technical Director at AECOM, explained: “Our work to date has highlighted the scale of the issue, has shown that technology can play a valuable role, and that there is much still to be understood about driver behaviour given the new insights gained.”
