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New AI Safety Cameras Capture 'Beyond Mind-Boggling' Driver Behavior

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<p>Images of drivers eating cereal, painting their nails and using nail clippers were just some of 31,000 offences caught on camera in four weeks.</p>

Summary

Western Australia's new AI-powered safety cameras are changing road safety by capturing over 31,000 instances of distracted driving, improper seatbelt use, and speeding within just four weeks. The initiative aims to reduce road fatalities and improve driver behavior, with fines being reinvested into road safety improvements. Despite the technology's primary focus on road safety, it highlights broader issues of human reliance on AI systems for public safety enforcement. The article underscores the role of AI in aiding the enforcement of existing laws but does not extensively address existential or catastrophic AI risks.

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Western Australia's new AI safety cameras have fined more than 31,000 distracted, speeding and unrestrained drivers in their first four weeks of operation.Six camera trailers dotted across the state, as well as three fixed cameras on the Kwinana Freeway, have been operating on a cautionary basis for eight months.That period ended on October 7, after which $13 million in fines were handed out in the next month.READ MORE: Tom Silvagni, son of AFL great Stephen Silvagni, identified as a rapist as order liftsMost shocking of all, a truck driver was snapped driving at 100 km/hr with no seatbelt, with a mobile phone in one hand and another object the other. (Nine)The revenue from fines is being reinvested into road safety."If the AI system believes there is an offense, then two humans will look at those photos and make a judgment," Road Safety Minister Reece Whitby said.More than 12,000 motorists were caught using their mobile phones and about 10,000 drivers were snapped without a seatbelt."It's beyond mind-boggling why anyone would not put on a seatbelt on," Whitby said."For goodness sake, please, please exercise caution, be responsible."Images of drivers eating cereal, painting their nails and using nail clippers were just some of the offences caught on camera.One driver was seen using her phone while her passenger steered the car.Most shocking of all, a truck driver was snapped driving at 100km/h with no seatbelt, with a mobile phone in one hand and a clipboard-shaped object in the other.READ MORE: The Christmas toys emergency doctors don't want you to buy for childrenOne driver was even seen using her phone while her passenger steered the car. (Nine)"People are normalising the car as an extension of their home, when you see some of these activities," University of Western Australia Professor Teresa Senserrick said.Authorities hope the cameras can help change driver behaviour as the state approaches its worst year of road fatalities in almost a decade.Academics at the WA Centre for Road Safety Research at UWA hope a new high-tech driving simulator can help prove just how dangerous these distractions can be."It's usually fractions of seconds that are the difference between either being able to avoid a crash or at least being in a low-impact crash," Senserrick said.DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.