{"id":2118075,"date":"2026-10-12T07:04:46","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T06:04:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/westmidlands\/?p=2118075"},"modified":"2026-10-12T07:04:46","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T06:04:46","slug":"ai-cameras-catch-toddler-on-lap-and-drivers-glued-to-phones-in-west-midlands-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/westmidlands\/news\/2118075-ai-cameras-catch-toddler-on-lap-and-drivers-glued-to-phones-in-west-midlands-trial","title":{"rendered":"AI cameras catch toddler on lap and drivers glued to phones in West Midlands trial"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"ltr\">An AI camera trial in the West Midlands captured nearly 19,000 potential seatbelt and mobile phone offences in just two weeks, prompting calls for the technology to be used for police enforcement.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The cameras, developed and supplied by AECOM and Acusensus, were set up outside Ladywood fire station in Birmingham and Fallings Park fire station in Wolverhampton for two weeks in March.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">At Ladywood,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.acusensus.com\/\"> the system<\/a> flagged 11,045 potential seatbelt offences and 1,163 potential mobile phone offences. At Fallings Park, it found 6,030 potential seatbelt offences and 757 potential phone offences.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Images included a front-seat passenger holding a small child on their lap without a seatbelt, and a driver holding a phone with both hands. The system\u2019s accuracy was checked by human operators using a sample of 8,024 images.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">As it was a trial, no enforcement action was taken. The West Midlands Road Safety Partnership is now reviewing the results and considering next steps.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The trial was funded by the West Midlands Combined Authority, working with the police and fire services.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">West Midlands Mayor<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/westmidlands\/?s=Richard+Parker\"> Richard Parker<\/a> said: \u201cThe number of people risking their own lives and the lives of others, including some very young children, is frankly shocking and far higher than we expected when setting up the trial.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cAs we review these results with our Road Safety Partnership and look to next steps, I promise to use every resource available, including new technology like this, to make our streets safer for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Simon Foster, West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner and chair of the road safety partnership board, said: \u201cWe are closely evaluating these trial results to consider how this advanced AI technology can be deployed for future police enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Around 2,000 motorists a year in the West Midlands are fined and given penalty points for using a mobile phone while driving. Nationally, phone use was linked to 32 deaths and not wearing a seatbelt to 133 deaths on UK roads in 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An AI camera trial in the West Midlands captured nearly 19,000 potential seatbelt and mobile phone offences in just two weeks<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":284306,"featured_media":2118076,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50204],"coauthors":[137138],"class_list":["post-2118075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-black-country","tag-featured-story","tag-greater-birmingham","tag-west-midlands"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>AI cameras catch toddler on lap and drivers glued to phones in West Midlands trial | TheBusinessDesk.com<\/title>\n<meta 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