Thousands of people in Greater Manchester have been caught using mobile phones while driving or not wearing their seat belts.
Images captured by the state-of-the-art ‘Heads Up’ camera system – which uses a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and human reviewers – as part of a trial in Greater Manchester, show drivers holding mobile phones in front of their face, to their ear while behind the wheel, and sometimes with passengers next to them.
According to Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), in several cases, the cameras also found drivers and passengers, both passengers and children, not being securely fastened in their seats or not wearing seat belts at all.
The trial aims to detect drivers who are potentially breaking the law and putting themselves, their passengers, and other road users, at risk.
‘Shocking’ images taken with an AI camera of drivers using mobiles and not wearing seatbelts have been released / Credit: TfGM
AI is used as the first filter in a bid to ensure privacy for “the vast majority of law-abiding motorists” while also checking hundreds of thousands of vehicles over an intermittent period, TfGM explained – something which would likely take a human reviewer several months to complete.
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Images containing “evidence of an offence” then go through a two-stage human check to confirm that an offence has taken place.
Any offences detected as part of the trial were then passed on to Greater Manchester Police (GMP) to consider for further action, however if no offence was committed, the image was immediately deleted by the software.
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More than 3,200 people have been caught using mobile phones while driving or not wearing seat belts as part of a trial of state-of-the-art cameras in Greater Manchester.
— Safer Roads Greater Manchester Partnership (@SaferRoadsGM) November 19, 2024
The trial – which was carried out by AECOM and Acusensus, on behalf of Safer Roads Greater Manchester – was held across the region throughout September and October to “gather data” and “understand the scale of the issue” to inform future education campaigns and enforcement.
It comes after it was revealed that nearly 10,000 people who live in, work in, or visit Greater Manchester have been killed or seriously injured on our roads over the last decade.
During the deployment, the ‘Heads Up’ system recorded 812 drivers distracted by using mobile phones behind the wheel, and 2,393 incidents of seat belt non-compliance by drivers or passengers.
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As it stands, no offenders have yet been prosecuted from this trial, TfGM confirmed.
Featured Image – TfGM
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Manchester Airport issues update for anyone flying today after hundreds of cancellations yesterday
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Airport has issued an update for anyone catching a flight today after hundreds of cancellations yesterday.
In case you hadn’t heard, hundreds of flights at several major UK airports – including Manchester Airport – were disrupted by a technical fault at air traffic control provider National Air Traffic Services (NATS) yesterday (8 September 2026), with the incident grounding planes and resulting in numerous cancellations.
According to Flightradar24, more than 1,000 flights were cancelled nationwide, and many passengers were told to expect disruption for the rest of the day.
One of the worst-affected airlines was said to be Ryanair, with around 65,000 passengers affected by the cancellations and delays.
Manchester Airport issued its first statement addressing the matter at 3:15pm yesterday, stating: “We are aware of an issue affecting NATS’ air traffic control service at UK airports, which may result in delays to some departing flights from Manchester Airport today.
“Passengers due to travel are advised to check the latest status of their flight with their airline. We will continue to monitor the situation and share further updates as more information becomes available.”
Now, although the issue has been resolved, Manchester Airport has issued further statements informing anyone travelling today what they can expect.
The airport started off by saying that it is ‘operating as normal’ today, but that passengers are advised to ‘check with their airline for the latest information’.
“A full flight schedule is expected to operate [today] but the airport may be busier due to rescheduled flights,” it added.
Passengers were then thanked for their ‘patience and understanding’ over the past 24 hours.
Featured Image – Ivan Shimko (via Unsplash)
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Hundreds of staff at four Greater Manchester hospitals to strike AGAIN next week
Emily Sergeant
Another round of strikes has been called at a handful of major Greater Manchester hospitals.
Amid ongoing disputes following the first set of strikes at the end of last month, it has now been announced that more than 350 Northern Care Alliance Foundation Trust (NCA) employees – including nurses, clinical support workers and housekeepers – who are members of the union UNISON will once again walk out for three days next week.
According to the union, the dispute centres on the NCA’s use of an outside agency called NHS Professionals (NHSP) to manage overtime.
When covering staff shortages, workers are entitled to time-and-a-half pay – however in some cases, staff earn less than they would on a normal shift, and some have even been missing out on more than £80 per shift, the union added.
Operating theatre staff were previously on picket lines in June, and although an option to resolve the row was initially tabled by NCA bosses, this has now fallen through.
Hundreds of staff at four of Greater Manchester’s hospitals are set to strike next week / Credit: Stephen Andrews (via Unsplash)
This means that staff at Salford Royal Hospital, Royal Oldham Hospital, Rochdale Infirmary, and Fairfield Hospital in Bury are walking out next week on Monday 14, Tuesday 15, and Thursday 17 September.
The union’s North West regional organiser, Kevin Dolan, said the trust had given ‘no indication’ that it’s willing to re-enter negotiations, adding that operating theatre services were ‘chronically under-staffed’ and staff were choosing to work extra shifts to cover shortages.
Ahead of the August strikes, the trust declared a critical incident to help it secure extra support and keep urgent surgery running, while also announcing that some procedures would have to be postponed.
Understandably, some disruption is expected at each of the hospitals on strike days.
But Gertie Nic Philib, who is the chief people and strategy officer at the Northern Care Alliance, said that the trust will do ‘everything we can to minimise the impact on patients’ and ‘maintain high standards of care and quality at all times.’
“We also have contingency plans in place for emergency situations,” they concluded.
Emily Sergeant -
20th November 2024 
