The end of text & drive? Australia is first with phone detection cameras, raising privacy concerns
We kid, the AI isn't that smart yet, but there will be up to 45 cameras, both fixed and portable, installed around NSW in the next few years, whose sole purpose will be to scan for phone-induced distracted driving.
After the software flags a vehicle and a driver, a human eye will have the final say whether the AI was right to determine cell phone usage behind the wheel, and the eventual wrong scans will be chucked from the file within an hour.
Thankfully, the authorities are giving a 3-month warning period so that the drivers get accustomed to the new cams. Instead of a $344 fine ($457 in school zones) and 5-10 points withdrawal, the drivers will be sent a warning until the end of March.
The high-res cameras can take pictures that are so accurate, that they can be used for other purposes, like seatbelt, or number of occupants in a transit lane enforcement, but for now the focus is on mobile phone use.
Given that the province has some of the most draconian measures that only allow you to use the phone for calls, audio playback or navigation, and without touching it at any time while the vehicle is moving, some argue that the new cameras are simply put to fill the coffers of the administration.
During the 3-month trial that has been running since September, the cameras caught more than 100,000 drivers using their cell phones in the car, which would've resulted in tens of millions in fines. The NSW minister for roads and transport, Andrew Constance, however, begs to differ:
With revenue raising for fines around speed cameras and the mobile phone detection cameras, all that money is going into a community road safety fund to get idiots to behave as they should have in the first place, and not drive dangerously on the road. We’re having to plough it back in to educate people who should have done the right thing in the first place.
Oh, well, there are no laws against smartwatch and fitness band usage just yet, but these are not nearly as fun to use as a smartphone. Apple's CarPlay and Android Auto, however, will be having a field day with the combo of restrictive laws and smart cameras to enforce them.
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