An artificial intelligence (AI) camera trial in the West Midlands has identified 18,995 potential seatbelt and mobile phone offences in two weeks, prompting regional transport and policing authorities to consider whether the technology could support future enforcement.
image: WMCA
The trial was conducted in March by Transport for West Midlands, with funding from the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) and involvement from police and fire services. Camera trailers were deployed outside Ladywood Fire Station in Birmingham and Fallings Park Fire Station in Wolverhampton between 19 and 31 March.
Initial analysis identified 17,075 potential seatbelt offences and 1,920 potential instances of mobile phone use while driving across the two sites. At Ladywood, the cameras flagged 11,045 potential seatbelt offences and 1,163 potential mobile phone offences. At Fallings Park, they identified a further 6,030 potential seatbelt offences and 757 potential mobile phone offences.
The technology, developed and supplied by AECOM and Acusensus, uses cameras and AI to identify possible infringements from images of passing vehicles. A sample of 8,024 images was checked by human operators to assess the technology’s accuracy.
The trial was intended to establish the potential scale of unsafe driving behaviour rather than issue penalties. No enforcement action followed the detections.
Images released by the WMCA included examples of children travelling without appropriate restraints and a driver holding a mobile phone with both hands. The authority said the findings indicated that non-compliance with seatbelt and mobile phone rules was more widespread than anticipated.
West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker said the number of people putting themselves and others at risk was “frankly shocking”. He said the results would be reviewed with the region’s Road Safety Partnership to determine possible next steps.
Simon Foster, West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner and chair of the road safety partnership, said the results were being evaluated to assess how the technology could be used in future police enforcement.
WMCA cited 2025 road safety data linking mobile phone use to 32 deaths and failure to wear a seatbelt to 133 deaths on UK roads. It also said about 2,000 motorists in the West Midlands are fined and receive penalty points each year for using a mobile phone while driving.