Almost 19,000 drivers were captured using their mobile phone or not wearing a seatbelt during a two-week trial of new cameras powered by artificial intelligence (AI).
The AI cameras used in the pilot, which took place in March, were positioned in Birmingham and Wolverhampton.
Initial image scans found the Birmingham camera recorded 11,144 potential non-use of seat belt offences and 1,163 potential mobile phone offences.
The camera in Wolverhampton, meanwhile, recorded 6,081 potential seatbelt offences and 757 potential mobile phone offences.
Among the images captured is a front-seat passenger with a small child on their lap with no seatbelt, leaving the toddler completely unprotected in the event of a collision. It is one of dozens of images of children being driven without age-appropriate restraints.
In another case a driver was captured holding their mobile phone with both hands, eyes on the screen rather than the road.
Approximately 2,000 motorists a year in the West Midlands are fined and given penalty points for driving while using a mobile phone.
Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, said: “The 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.
“The law is clear on seatbelts and mobile phones. I’ve met families who have lost loved ones to reckless driving. They never recover from these tragedies; the grief is always there. People need to stop doing this, it is simply not worth the risk.”
The trial was funded by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) in collaboration with the police and fire services.
West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner and chair of the road safety partnership board, Simon Foster, said: “These initial findings are deeply concerning. We are closely evaluating these trial results to consider how this advanced AI technology can be deployed for future police enforcement.
“We cannot tolerate reckless behaviour that puts lives at risk, and we will use every effective tool at our disposal to ensure our roads are safer.”
The technology is developed and supplied by AECOM/Acusensus and its accuracy was checked by human operators using a sample of 8,024 images.
There was no follow up enforcement of the violations due to the cameras being used in a trial. The exercise was intended in the first instance to help understand the potential scale of the problem.
