A child sitting on a front seat passenger’s lap and a driver holding a phone with both hands were among the images captured during a West Midlands road safety trial
An AI camera trial in the West Midlands has recorded almost 19,000 potential offences in just two weeks, showing motorists driving without seatbelts or while using mobile phones.
The Mayor of the West Midlands, Richard Parker, is now urging drivers to wear their seatbelts and put their phones away to save lives and avoid prosecution.
The two-week trial ran in March, with AI camera systems installed outside Ladywood fire station in Birmingham and Fallings Park fire station in Wolverhampton.
Initial scans of the images found:
- Ladywood: 11,045 potential seatbelt offences and 1,163 potential mobile phone offences
- Fallings Park: 6,030 potential seatbelt offences and 757 potential mobile phone offences
One image shows a front seat passenger with a small child on their lap and no seatbelt, leaving the toddler with no protection in the event of a crash. It is one of dozens of images showing children travelling without age-appropriate restraints. In another, a driver is seen holding a mobile phone with both hands, looking at the screen rather than the road.
According to road safety data for 2025, mobile phone use is linked to 32 deaths and not wearing a seatbelt to 133 deaths on UK roads. Around 2,000 motorists a year in the West Midlands are fined and given penalty points for using a mobile phone while driving.
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.
“As we review these results with our Road Safety Partnership and look to next steps, I promise to use every resource available, including new technology like this, to make our streets safer for everyone.”
The trial was funded by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) working with the police and fire services. The technology was developed and supplied by AECOM/Acusensus, and its accuracy was checked by human operators using a sample of 8,024 images.
As it was a trial, no enforcement action followed the offences recorded. The exercise was designed to help understand the likely scale of the problem.
Simon Foster, West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner and chair of the road safety partnership board, said: “These initial findings are deeply concerning. Let me be absolutely clear: reducing the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads remains our absolute top priority.
“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.”
Reducing seatbelt and mobile phone offences are key outcomes of the National Road Safety Strategy, published by the Department for Transport last year.
Mat MacDonald, West Midlands Road Safety Commissioner, said: “Mobile phone use at the wheel and failing to wear a seatbelt are two of the leading causes of death and serious injury on our road network, and yet you barely have to leave your front door before you see someone taking these potentially lethal risks.
“Our work with this cutting-edge technology shows we will stop at nothing to stamp out such behaviours, fostering a safer culture of driving on our streets and preventing yet more families going through the anguish of losing a loved one to avoidable tragedy.”
Superintendent Keeley Bevington, from the region’s roads policing unit, said: “West Midlands Police works in partnership towards Vision Zero the ambition to stop people being killed and seriously injured on our roads.
“Enforcement and education around seatbelts and mobile phones, two of the ‘fatal 5’ offences, is so important and we know only too well how mobile phone, use while driving, is a distraction that contributes to road traffic collisions where people are killed or seriously injured.”
Paul Manzotti, co-chair of campaign group Better Streets for Birmingham, said: “These trial results highlight the severe road safety challenge facing the West Midlands and Birmingham’s declared emergency.
“Better Streets for Birmingham calls for comprehensive enforcement – using every tool available – alongside safer streets and upgraded transport so everyone gets home safely.”
