‘Phenomenal’ AI camera trial already changing driver behaviour
Fri, 24 Oct 2025
A new AI camera that catches drivers using their mobile behind the wheel is already helping change driver behaviour in a way conventional policing methods could not achieve.
Devon and Cornwall police is into the third year of trialling the AI camera made by Australian firm Acusensus.
It scans the inside of every car that drives past – and if a potential violation is detected, it flags images for several stages of human verification.
The camera is able to detect a range of offences, from drivers using their mobiles behind the wheel, to not wearing seatbelts while driving.
The Times reports that it can even catch drivers with an unrestrained child in their car.
Police forces are responsible for the final stage of image validation and can instruct motorists to take a driver awareness course, issue fines and impose penalty points.
Devon and Cornwall police has published the first results from the AI camera trial. In 2003, 83 people a day on average were caught not wearing a seatbelt. In 2025, this has dropped to 14 a day, an 83% reduction.
In 2023, 50 people a day were spotted texting behind the wheel. This has now dropped to 10 a day – an 80% improvement.
"This is the kind of behaviour change we couldn’t achieve with conventional policing methods," head of road safety Adrian Leisk told The Times.
"My colleagues see so many road traffic fatalities where the driver would have survived if they were wearing a seatbelt, so we are delighted this is making a difference."
The response from the public has been positive too, he says, as motorists do not like seeing others using their mobile behind the wheel.
The Acusensus AI cameras have also been trialled by other forces, including Greater Manchester, Staffordshire and Sussex. In Manchester, it caught more than 3000 offences in just five weeks. Head of roads policing in Essex Adam Pipe called the trial ‘phenomenal’.
Devon and Cornwall police has even been experimenting with using the cameras to catch drink- and drug-drivers. It deployed two cameras on a series of bends and mapped what ‘normal’ driving looks like.
"Once we had that baseline, the AI looked for outliers. Then, across two Friday nights, we set them up again with a live feed going to police officers stationed further down the road." Four drunk drivers were subsequently caught by the AI cameras.
