Skip to main content

New software could detect when people text and drive

Engineering researchers at Canada’s University of Waterloo are developing technology which can accurately determine when drivers are texting or engaged in other distracting activities. The system uses cameras and artificial intelligence (AI) to detect hand movements that deviate from normal driving behaviour and grades or classifies them in terms of possible safety threats.
September 20, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Engineering researchers at Canada’s University of Waterloo are developing technology which can accurately determine when drivers are texting or engaged in other distracting activities. The system uses cameras and artificial intelligence (AI) to detect hand movements that deviate from normal driving behaviour and grades or classifies them in terms of possible safety threats.


Fakhri Karray, an electrical and computer engineering professor and director of the Centre for Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence (CPAMI) at Waterloo, said that information could be used to improve road safety by warning or alerting drivers when they are dangerously distracted. As advanced self-driving features are increasingly added to conventional cars, he said, signs of serious driver distraction could be employed to trigger protective measures.

“The car could actually take over driving if there was imminent danger, even for a short while, in order to avoid crashes,” said Karray.

Algorithms at the heart of the technology were trained using machine-learning techniques to recognise actions such as texting, talking on a cellphone or reaching into the backseat to retrieve something. The seriousness of the action is assessed based on duration and other factors.

That work builds on extensive previous research at CPAMI on the recognition of signs, including frequent blinking, that drivers are in danger of falling asleep at the wheel. Head and face positioning are also important cues of distraction.

Ongoing research at the centre now seeks to combine the detection, processing and grading of several different kinds of driver distraction in a single system.

“It has a huge impact on society,” said Karray, citing estimates that distracted drivers are to blame for up to 75 per cent of all traffic accidents worldwide.

Related Content

  • Towards intelligent road infrastructure
    October 8, 2021
    A digital transformation is happening in the world today and the result is that Europe’s transport infrastructure, and also the car industry are experiencing revolutionary changes. Jēkabs Krastiņš looks at the challenges and plots the road ahead.
  • Traffic lights: There’s a better way ..
    July 9, 2014
    .. say researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who have developed a means of computing optimal timings for city stoplights that they say can significantly reduce drivers’ average travel times. Existing software for timing traffic signals has several limitations, says Carolina Osorio, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at MIT and lead author of a forthcoming paper in the journal Transportation Science that describes the new system, based on a study of traffic
  • Speed limiters mandatory in EU cars by 2022
    March 28, 2019
    Various vehicle safety measures have been given the green light by European policymakers, paving the way for speed limiters in cars by 2022. The European Parliament, Council and Commission have approved the measures, which means such technology as lane assist, drowsiness detection, advanced emergency braking and intelligent speed assistance (ISA – or speed limiters) are expected to be mandatory – if formal approval is granted - in new vehicles in three years’ time. EU commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska, res
  • As many as '50,000' daily cases of illegal phone use on English roads
    June 17, 2024
    Results from UK DfT and Aecom using Acusensus tech suggest worrying scale of problem