1984 meets NCAP
There is, of course, a simpler way to avoid worrying about whether an MMDA camera can see through the windshield, and that is to buckle up before moving.
Text size
There is, of course, a simpler way to avoid worrying about whether an MMDA camera can see through the windshield, and that is to buckle up before moving.
A driver who forgets to wear a seat belt can correct the mistake in a second, particularly after spotting a traffic enforcer farther down the road.
With the MMDA now saying its AI-powered cameras can detect drivers without seat belts, that little trick may no longer work as often in Metro Manila.
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Supervising Environmental Management specialist Mocha Mateo said the capability uses the same AI framework that supports the agency’s No Contact Apprehension Policy, or NCAP.
Cameras have long been able to catch vehicles beating red lights or committing other violations that can be seen from outside the car.
Detecting whether someone is wearing a seat belt takes the technology a little farther because the camera now has to look through the windshield and determine what the person inside is doing.
George Orwell probably did not have Metro Manila traffic in mind when he wrote 1984, but a camera checking whether you remembered your seat belt does make “Big Brother is watching” feel oddly at home.
Under the Metro Manila Traffic Code of 2023, designated traffic personnel still review footage of a possible violation before a notice is issued, since computers can spot patterns but can also get unusual situations wrong.
A car in the bus lane is obvious, but a dark strip across someone’s shirt may be a seat belt or something the camera simply cannot see clearly.
The bigger question is how much traffic enforcement we are willing to leave to cameras and computers.
As cameras improve, they may be able to spot other violations inside the car, not just a missing seat belt. Motorists should therefore know what the system can see and how to dispute a mistake.
There is, of course, a simpler way to avoid worrying about whether an MMDA camera can see through the windshield, and that is to buckle up before moving.
The next barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections will now be held in 2028, putting the country’s grassroots polls…
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. capped a diplomatically and politically charged week by clinching two long elusive…
There are a couple of new ways to earn extra money.
