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AI traffic cameras lead to drop in drivers running stop signs
In Prince George's County, fewer drivers are rolling through stop signs, officials said. Cameras utilizing artificial intelligence appear to be a reason why.
PRINCE GEORGE'S CO., Md. - In Prince George's County, fewer drivers are rolling through stop signs, officials said. Cameras utilizing artificial intelligence appear to be a reason why.
The backstory:
Earlier this year, several Prince George’s County communities began rolling out AI-powered traffic enforcement cameras aimed at getting drivers to stop at stop signs. All are located near school zones, including for example, at the intersection of Pontiac Street and Edmonston Road in Berwyn Heights.
According to officials, since the cameras went live, on average, there’s been a nearly 70 percent reduction in drivers running stop signs within the first four months of each camera becoming fully operational.
"The special thing about these cameras is that there’s an AI model that sits on the device, and that AI model can actually detect all sorts of unsafe driving behaviors that are happening. So, whether it’s skipping the stop sign, almost hitting somebody, speeding, red light, it can detect all of that context from the same footage and device itself," explained Dhruv Maheshwari. He's the president and co-founder of Obvio, which deployed the cameras.
"What we’re excited about is to sort of use this to solve the growing array of unsafe driving behaviors that exist," he added.
What they're saying:
Prince George's County Councilmember Wanika Fisher supports the approach, in large part because she said Prince George's County leads all of Maryland in pedestrian deaths.
"Everyone doesn’t like tickets, right? I don’t like a ticket, but I also like that someone’s life is saved a lot more," she said.
And as for concerns people may have about AI, Fisher said, "it’s not technology that’s grabbing your face, your person, your voice to issue you a civil infraction, and I think that’s why there’s a comfort in that."
By the numbers:
Fisher said if a driver is caught rolling through a stop sign on one of the cameras, the maximum fine they can face is $40.