A tech company recently shared details about its partnership with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) to utilize the company’s “Driver Focus Camera” systems to catch in-cab violations at weigh stations.
Perceptics, a technology company focusing on vehicle identification and license plate recognition products, shared a blog post detailing their work to help KYTC monitor driver behavior through camera technology installed in a weigh station.
Perceptics installed the “Driver Focus Camera” technology at the Laurel County I-75 Northbound Weigh Station to help the Kentucky State Patrol “capture near real-time, high-resolution images of drivers as they exited the highway.”
In the six months that that the camera technology has been installed at the I-75 weigh station, it has resulted in 137 seatbelt violations as well as violations for driver cell phone use and for drivers failing to wear corrective lenses.
“As the vehicle approaches the weigh station, Perceptics cameras capture images of the vehicle, the license plate, the USDOT and KYU numbers, and the inside of the cab. These images are fed to the Kentucky Automated Truck Screening (KATS) system where officers can quickly identify the vehicle and decide whether to send the vehicle for inspection. With the addition of the Driver Focus Camera, officers can now see the image of the driver in KATS along with all the vehicle’s information, providing important safety data that was not captured before. Officers can use the image to flag the driver for further inspection or as evidence of a violation during a regular inspection,” Perceptics explained.
Perceptics went on to detail how the technology, which will be deployed at additional weigh station locations, can be used to enforce Hours of Service rules:
“Additionally, the new camera also allows officers to confirm the identity of the driver to ensure he or she is not exceeding driving time limits. KYTC is planning to install the cameras at its 13 other locations across the state to provide visual evidence that was previously unavailable to corroborate the driver’s logged time.“
The blog post also detailed why the camera systems were installed in the first place:
“… commercial vehicle enforcement officers from the Kentucky State Police (KSP) were interested in finding a reliable way to see into a vehicle’s cab as it approached a weigh station. They wanted real-time actionable intelligence so they could be proactive in their enforcement and collect evidence that they could use later. Previously, officers had to use binoculars if they wanted to observe the driver, meaning they had to take their eyes off the road and off the computer which was pulling up the vehicle’s information in real time. They also had no way of providing a driver with proof of an infraction.“