SCOTTISH drivers who use mobile phones or don’t wear seat belts while driving could be detected as plans to roll out new AI technology that analyses speed camera footage have been revealed.
Police Scotland is expected to launch a pilot to crack down on two of the biggest dangers while driving following “positive feedback” from the technology’s use on English roads over the last three years.
The pilot could be introduced in Scotland in the “next few months”, according to reports from The Scotsman.
Vans housing multiple cameras will use AI technology to analyse whether a motorist could be using a phone or driving without a seat belt.
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National Highways (NH), which trialled the technology from 2021 along with Warwickshire Police, said drivers were four times more likely to be in a crash if they used their phone behind the wheel.
The agency, which runs motorways and other trunk roads in England, added motorists were twice as likely to die in a crash if they didn’t wear a seat belt.
Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop told The Scotsman: “That deterrence aspect should ensure that people don’t do things that are clearly a risk to themselves and to other drivers.
“For mobile phones, the challenge is that quite often people are looking down at them rather than having them at their ear, so having the capability to identify that is going to be important.
“The fact that 18 per cent of people who die in cars aren’t wearing seatbelts is extremely alarming, so that’s another area that we will be having a focus on.
“The reason we want to introduce it here is because there has been positive feedback [from trials in England]. It’s something that’s quite new in terms of our armoury.”
The pilot is due to be introduced to 10 other police forces in February and will run until March next year “to inform a possible roll-out” across England.
Drivers can be fined up to £500 if they are caught not wearing a seatbelt, in addition to penalty points, and can be fined up to £1000 and receive six penalty points for using a mobile phone.
Between 2015 and 2020 a total of 24 drivers using a phone while on Scottish roads were killed.
A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “Plans are being progressed to pilot live operation of new camera technology capable of detecting drivers who use a handheld device behind the wheel and those who do not wear a seatbelt on targeted roads in Scotland.”
Police Scotland head of road policing Chief Superintendent Hilary Sloan, said: “We have a positive duty to the public to use new technologies to keep people safe and improve road safety.”
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