"Smart" security cameras may soon help catch those texting and driving

Shawn Knight

Posts: 15,240   +192
Staff member

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1,161 people are injured and more than eight are killed in the US each day as a result of distracted driving.

While tasks such as eating or using in-vehicle technologies are common concerns, one of my pet peeves – texting and driving – is especially dangerous as it combines all three types of distractions : visual (taking your eyes off the road), manual (taking your hands off the wheel) and cognitive (taking your mind off of driving).

Nearly every state in the country has made texting and driving a punishable offense yet the issue persists largely because there simply aren’t enough police on the streets to enforce the law.

That’s where artificial intelligence and computer vision step in.

Movidius, the artificial intelligence and computer vision chipmaker that Intel acquired last month, has partnered with Chinese security camera maker Hikvision. Together, they’ve developed “smart” cameras that, among other useful tasks, could be used by law enforcement to catch those texting and driving in the act and send them a ticket via snail mail.

Is that going to stop people from texting and driving? Of course not, but with any luck, maybe it could reduce the statistics a tiny bit and cause habitual offenders to think twice about responding to a message right away.

Conversely, as Quartz highlights, intelligent security cameras like this could just as easily be abused by law enforcement and the government by putting them to work as surveillance devices. No matter the case, it always seems to come down to a trade-off between privacy and protection.

Image courtesy Damian Dovarganes, AP

Permalink to story.

 
First offense, lose card for ½ a year. Second and you wont get it back, EVER. If you can't focus on driving you can't be allowed to have a licence.
 
And...after they figure this out, then, they will do the same if you are changing a cd, fiddling with the radio, eating, talking to others in the car and on and on. Oh well, by the time this all happens, I'll be too old to drive, cars will be outlawed by the global U.N. police since all rights will be done away with, all borders eliminated and the new world order takes hold....that or we'll all blow ourselves up in WW3 coming in the next year or two, or a earth killing asteroid destroys us.
Happy Monday!!
 
What about people who use their phone for GPS purposes? Laws have already been passed saying that using the GPS on your phone while driving is perfectly legal. As long as there is reasonable doubt lawyers will have a field day with this.

That, or texting and driving is a just a cover for all these "smart cameras"
 
The Tennessee State Troopers have a good solution. Four officers driving around in a Semi-Tractor, looking down on the drivers and directing chase cars whom to pull over. Once the drivers see the little video clip of them, it's game over! Fined, humiliated, and taught a lesson the good old fashion way. Only thing missing is a trip to the woodshed!
 
The Tennessee State Troopers have a good solution. Four officers driving around in a Semi-Tractor, looking down on the drivers and directing chase cars whom to pull over. Once the drivers see the little video clip of them, it's game over! Fined, humiliated, and taught a lesson the good old fashion way. Only thing missing is a trip to the woodshed!
In PA texting while driving is a secondary offense and they can't cite you for it unless that have some other reason to pull you over
 
Just wait until it's illegal to text and walk... did you know that 3 people per day trip and fall because they're too dumb to walk in a straight line while texting?!!?

Also, these same people also find it very difficult to breathe and chew bubble gum at the same time...
 
So chewing gum, texting, and walking is a recipe for certain disaster! Well, at least it will make Death race 3000 more fun and higher scoring!
 
Just wait until it's illegal to text and walk... did you know that 3 people per day trip and fall because they're too dumb to walk in a straight line while texting?!!?

Also, these same people also find it very difficult to breathe and chew bubble gum at the same time...
What will you say when you are looking up?
 
And...after they figure this out, then, they will do the same if you are changing a cd, fiddling with the radio, eating, talking to others in the car and on and on. Oh well, by the time this all happens, I'll be too old to drive, cars will be outlawed by the global U.N. police since all rights will be done away with, all borders eliminated and the new world order takes hold....that or we'll all blow ourselves up in WW3 coming in the next year or two, or a earth killing asteroid destroys us.
Happy Monday!!
texting requires is a different level of attention then they other things you have mentioned.
 
How to get out of this ticket:

"I was using my GPS."

This will be a gold mine for lawyers. Law School, here I come!
 
Just wait until it's illegal to text and walk... did you know that 3 people per day trip and fall because they're too dumb to walk in a straight line while texting?!!?

Also, these same people also find it very difficult to breathe and chew bubble gum at the same time...
I can't find the stat, but can you tell me how many people have died as a result of someone else texting and walking?
 
Make it illegal to hold a phone in your hand while driving. If you want to use GPS, slip the phone into a holder on the dashboard.
 
I thought the "trip to the woodshed" was reserved for close relatives and stepdaughters. Or is that only in West Virginia? ;)

Differs from state to state ..... out in California you can drag anyone in there, but they add that sign "if it's rock'n don't be knock'n"
 
Differs from state to state ..... out in California you can drag anyone in there, but they add that sign "if it's rock'n don't be knock'n"
It was my understanding that Californians had given up their genders entirely
 
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