Cameras which can automatically detect drivers using mobile phones behind the wheel or not wearing a seat belt are set to be trialled in Greater Manchester. The new "Heads Up" technology captures footage of passing cars before the images are processed using artificial intelligence (AI) to detect drivers who may be breaking the law. The trial will be used by Safer Roads Greater Manchester, an organisation supported by an Oldham man who lost his partner and unborn daughter following a crash caused by a driver using his phone.
Calvin Buckley lost his partner Frankie Hough in May last year when Adil Iqbal, 23, crashed into the back of her car in the M66 in Bury after she had pulled to the side of the motorway after sustaining a flat tyre. Calvin and Frankie had been together for nearly three years (Image: TfGM) Iqbal, of Hope Street, Accrington, had been filming himself driving at more than 100mph, when he lost control and crashed, killing Frankie, who was pregnant at the time with her and Calvin's daughter, Neeve, and injuring one of Frankie's sons and her nephew. Back in May, Calvin, 41, spoke publicly as part of a campaign warning drivers not to use their phones when behind the wheel.
Calvin said: "For me, personally, the devastation and loss that I’ve experienced completely changed my life. "I’d go as far to say it's destroyed my life, so the only thing I could do to try and make that tragedy a little bit better is to get involved in road safety work." This new trial sche.