Gridlock Guy: A.I. being tested to nab distracted drivers

Last week’s column on automated school zone speeding cameras struck a chord — and not a minor one. Several people wrote in with their stories about being dinged for speeding in areas they did not know were school zones and then their struggles to protest fines.

One wrote of exorbitant add-on fees to the initial fine brought on by the private company. Another wrote that they were unaware of the ticket, because the company sent it to the wrong address. And they got in trouble for not paying the fine on time.

So this next traffic enforcement innovation will probably not be welcome news to many readers.

Multiple jurisdictions, both in the U.S. and abroad, have tested artificial intelligence cameras to detect both distracted drivers and those without seatbelts, ZD Net reports. “Heads Up” cameras from Australian company Acusensus take pictures of each license plate and driver that passes them. The software analyzes if drivers are on their phones or buckled up and then flags violators.

Here is where “Heads Up” cameras and the maligned school zone enforcement cams take a divergent path. In Minnesota, live officers have to vet flagged images and then find the drivers and pull them over. The drivers do not get automatic tickets in the mail.

For those rightfully disturbed by every driver being photographed, Acusensus’ policy is that photos not addressed by police are deleted in 15 minutes.

On a stretch of Highway 7 in the Twin Cities’ western metro area, these cameras nabbed 100 drivers in the first three weeks of February, CBS TV affiliate WCCO reported. A sergeant in that area said they expected that the smart cameras ID’d thousands of violators in February, so police stopped only a fraction of them. That thoroughfare saw five fatal crashes in 2024.

More than 3,200 motorists got violations during a two-month trial in Manchester, England, ZD Net reported. And they noted that Philadelphia is using similar technology to nab people illegally parked in bus lanes.

Of course, A.I. is used in the school zone enforcements in Georgia, too. And while drivers absolutely need deterrence from speeding and poor driving in school zones, we have noted several flaws in this system.

So, could automation be effective in curbing distracted driving, a sin that remains rampant on Georgia roads?

The small sample sizes in Minnesota and England indicate as much, but those citing this data should look at a longer span of time to see if the presence of these cameras actually changes behavior and reduces crashes and casualties.

And then there is the issue with private companies and law enforcement. Ceding the issuance of penalties to entities outside of law enforcement is tricky. When affronted citizens want to confront errors, they get pointed from their city, to the state, to the private company, and back again.

One woman wrote and told me that she went as far to contact a state lawmaker about errors made by one of the school zone cameras. The lawmaker simply told her to get an attorney.

People should not need lawyers for small speeding tickets.

Outside of law enforcement, A.I. can certainly help with alerting people of traffic issues. In 2023, WANF reported that a committee in Forsyth County was studying adding A.I. to current traffic cameras to detect crashes. The cameras could then automatically dispatch emergency personnel. These same cameras could then potentially also interact with autonomous cars to warn drivers of hazards ahead.

A.I. can make judgment calls a bit more objective and potentially cut down on profiling and other gripes that some have with police. An algorithm can also catch behavior that the human eye cannot, and then humans can enforce the law based on that data. That assist could help free up officers to patrol for other crimes.

But if automated distracted-driving and seat-belt enforcement is to take place in Georgia, it needs to learn from the wrongs of the school zone speed cameras. Drivers need to be well aware that they are in an auto-enforcement zone. Employees of the respective police department need to administer tickets, not privateers.And real police officers should pull over said distracted and unbelted drivers.

Doug Turnbull has covered Atlanta traffic for over 20 years and written “Gridlock Guy” since 2017. Doug also co-hosts the “Five to Go Podcast,” a weekly deep dive on stories in motorsports. Contact him at fireballturnbull@gmail.com.