Distracted driving claims thousands of lives a year.
But artificial intelligence could be the solution.
Tel Aviv-based Eyesight Technologies this week announced a new AI feature that can recognize when a driver is smoking or using a mobile phone.
The function will be added to the firm’s existing distraction and drowsiness detection capabilities.
Preoccupied motorists—specifically those absorbed in their phones—are responsible for 1.6 million accidents annually in the US alone, according to the Israeli AI leader.
“There’s no greater distraction and danger on today’s road than mobile phones,” Eyesight Technologies CEO David Tolub said in a statement. “The average driver doesn’t realize that looking down at your phone to check a text is six times more likely to result in an accident than driving under the influence of alcohol*.”
The same dangers hold true for cigarette smokers, who are up to three times more likely to cause a crash if puffing while driving, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found.
New AI features detect driver distraction as a result of cell phone usage and smoking (via Eyesight Technologies)
Eyesight Tech’s existing DriverSense monitoring system already analyzes the vehicle operator’s facial features—head pose, gaze vector, blink rate, eye openness—for signs of drowsiness and distraction.
This new update, however, increases the program’s scope, enabling car manufacturers to intelligently alert the driver based on type of distraction.
“Our first priority is the safety of all people on the road, and eliminating the distraction created by our cell phones is a huge step toward a much safer road,” Tolub said.
The company’s AI goals reach beyond distraction mitigation, though.
A whopping 67 percent of long-haul truckers in the US admit to smoking in the cabin during transport of hazardous materials, Eyesight Technologies reported. Which is not only illegal, but stupidly dangerous.
And because random inspections and manual monitoring via dash cam isn’t enough, the firm’s FleetSense platform now enables managers to receive real-time updates and set alerts for cigarette smoking.
The feature may also have future applications in the shared-car economy, eliminating the habit of smoking in rental cars or autonomous taxis, where there are no drivers present to enforce policies.
Eyesight Technologies will demo its new features at next year’s CES 2020.
* Please do not test this theory
More on Geek.com:
- Australia Uses Mobile Phone Detection Cameras to Catch Distracted Drivers
- Volvo Adds In-Car Cameras to Monitor Drunk, Distracted Drivers
- MIT Researchers Teach Autonomous Cars to Predict Driver Behavior
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