For the first time, the latest AI technology will be used to track drivers using their phones while driving.
Phone use while driving is one of the causes of many car accidents around the world. However, it is not easy to deal with this problem, since the police often do not have the opportunity to prove that the driver was actually using the device at the time of arrest. But in Australia, AI cameras will be used to solve this problem.
The first such cameras have already been installed in New South Wales. They can automatically detect when drivers are using their phones, using a special AI system that scans photos for telltale signs. "Suspicious" images will be transferred to special reviewers - people whose task will be to confirm or refute the decision of the system. This will avoid false positives.
The first three months the system will work in test mode and drivers with phones will get off with only warnings. But they will subsequently receive a fine of A$344 ($233). Well, with a second violation, these numbers will rise to 457 Australian dollars ($309). The new system is expected to prevent up to 100 fatal and serious injury crashes within five years. In any case, it will serve as a deterrent for lovers of communication behind the wheel.
As always happens in such cases, not everyone is delighted with the opening prospects. Privacy in this situation is not a big problem, because the cameras do not look for faces. But there are fears of a lot of lawsuits from drivers who will prove that in fact they did not hold the phone in their hands at all and the reviewers were mistaken. However, it is doubtful that this can somehow affect the development and distribution of the system. Yet it promises to significantly improve road safety.
