Trial of new technology that automatically detects driving offences rolled out to Northamptonshire

A trial of new technology, which automatically detects driving offences, has been rolled out to Northamptonshire’s road network.

The kit is mounted to a vehicle or trailer and has multiple cameras giving differing views of the driver and their passengers, and has the ability to detect if drivers are using their phones or not wearing their seatbelts.

The National Highways trial first launched in 2021 when motorists spotted driving without seatbelts or on the phone by police using the technology were sent warning letters informing them of the dangers of their behaviour.

In partnership with AECOM, the research is now being extended to work with more police forces to help learn more about how the technology could work on National Highways roads and inform a possible future roll-out nationwide. The latest trial began on February 19 and will run until March 2025.

The new type of technology captures footage of passing motorists. The images are processed using artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse whether the motorists could be using a handheld mobile phone or drivers may be without a seat belt. The images are then passed to police for consideration on any action to be taken.

National Highways head of national road user safety delivery, Matt Staton, 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.”

Dr Jamie Uff from AECOM added: “Expanding the deployments and integrating data processing with police systems is an important step towards this technology making a significant contribution to road safety.”

Although the research is funded by National Highways, enforcement of motoring offences will remain a matter for individual police forces.

There are also plans for the technology to be fixed to gantries for the first time giving an unobscured view of all lanes.