UK highways will be using AI cameras to detect and fine littering drivers. The country’s roadsides have an issue with drivers tossing rubbish out of their windows as they drive. In response, the government is rolling out a trial using the cameras in order to prevent this antisocial behaviour.
The trial will run in South East England, and the cameras will be programmed to identify drivers who throw trash from their cars and then fine or prosecute them.
The idea of using the AI element is to streamline the monitoring process. Currently, police waste hours trawling through hours of video footage. If the drivers are caught in the act, the cameras can identify the behaviour and simultaneously red flag it. This will speed up the entire process by a huge amount.
It will work in a similar manner to the AI used in wildlife tracking cameras that are being deployed around the world to monitor endangered species and fragile habitats.
The new AI devices will automatically send the identified littering offences to the enforcement control room, where personnel can review the images and issue a fine of up to £100 ($126) using the car’s license plate.
The trial is starting 3 months after the Clean Up Britain campaign shamed the National Highways body into taking action against the poor state of the roadsides.
“They are failing on an astonishing and soul-destroying scale to clean up the tsunami of litter which is festering all over their roads, in every part of the country,” said campaign leader John Reade in a recent blog post.
Hopefully, the swiftness of the processing from cameras to fines will serve to deter drivers from further littering.
[Via Gizmodo]
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