AI Cameras Are Busting Drivers For Holding Their Phone

A recent report out of the Minneapolis area about AI cameras being used to catch drivers holding their phone caught our attention. This sort of thing has been done all over the US in the past while and is becoming increasingly common. While some hail the tech as revolutionary and lifesaving, others believe it’s an erosion of constitutional rights as privacy is further eroded.

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In the Minneapolis metro area, the cameras are being set up at temporary locations along Highway 7, a popular route that runs East-West, says CBS Minnesota. A sergeant with the Minnetonka Police Department excitedly told a reporter about how the community there “asked… for a solution” to the distracted driving problem.

That solution is the cameras which peer into cars as they drive down the highway. Artificial intelligence then determines if the driver was holding their phone. Police waiting nearby then speed off to pull over violators, either giving them a warning of a citation.

This is important because 472 people died on public roads in Minnesota last year, with 27 attributed to distracted driving. The solution is to surveil everyone.

Not surprisingly, the company which approached the state with this AI camera solution is based out of Australia. Down Under they have cameras everywhere and they bust people for supposedly not wearing seatbelts and all sorts of other violations.

In other words, it starts with speed cameras, then the distracted driving, then it’s all sorts of other violations cameras are used to uncover. This is why someone in Long Island has been covering cameras with fake flowers.

These or similar cameras are being used to bust drivers for holding their phones in Houston, North Carolina, Phoenix, Tampa, and many other areas. Expect this sort of thing to come to your city soon, if it hasn’t already.

The ACLU calls these AI surveillance cameras “invasive technology” and the beginning of “indiscriminate mass surveillance.” The organization worries in the quest to save lives by cracking down on distracted driving, governments are chipping away at constitutional rights and civil liberties.

But not everyone agrees. Some are scared enough of the dangers on public roads, they think there needs to be more government surveillance instead of restraints. We expect people will be divided on whether these distraction detection cameras are a good thing or not.

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