News
Cameras that automatically detect ‘distracted’ drivers to be trialled in Greater Manchester
This could save so many lives.
Emily Sergeant -
29th August 2024 
Greater Manchester is to begin trialling state-of-the-art cameras which can automatically detect drivers who are distracted.
The new ‘Heads Up’ technology captures footage of passing vehicles before the images are processed using artificial intelligence (AI) to detect potential offending drivers – including those using mobile phones behind the wheel, or not wearing a seat belt
According to Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), footage that is deemed to contain evidence of an offence is then sent for a secondary human check to confirm, but only then if an image shows that no offence has been committed, will it be deleted immediately by the software and no further action will be taken.
The camera system by Acusensus was first trialled by National Highways back in 2021, and has been used by police forces and local highways authorities across the UK ever since.
The campaign to introduce the new cameras was supported by Calvin Buckley, whose partner Frankie Hough and their unborn daughter Neeve died in May 2023 after a speeding driver – who was filming himself reaching speeds of 123mph on the M66 in Bury – crashed into her car which had stopped on the hard shoulder.
Between 2014 and 2023, there were 138 people killed or seriously injured following road traffic collisions in Greater Manchester where driver distraction was a contributing factor, TfGM has confirmed.
Of those deaths, 23 people lost their lives in a road traffic collision where the driver was using a mobile phone, and in 2020, one in four people killed in Greater Manchester wasn’t wearing a seat belt.
Driving while distracted is listed among the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s ‘fatal four’ causes of road traffic collisions.
Speaking ahead of the roll-out of the new cameras across the region next week, Peter Boulton, who TfGM’s Network Director for Highways, said: “In Greater Manchester, we know that distractions and not wearing seat belts are key factors in a number of road traffic collisions on our roads which have resulted in people being killed or seriously injured.
“By utilising this state-of-the-art technology provided by Acusensus, we hope to gain a better understanding of how many drivers break the law in this way, whilst also helping to reduce these dangerous driving practices and make our roads safer for everyone.”
Read more:
- Man admits to killing pregnant mum-of-two in M66 horror crash near Bury
- Drivers warned as more than 100 new ‘ultra’ speed cameras have been installed across Greater Manchester
- Greater Manchester’s Clean Air Zone cameras are now being used for ‘detecting crime’
Heads Up will be deployed at several locations across Greater Manchester from Tuesday 3 September on a trial basis.
Featured Image – TfGM
