Using AI to detect impaired drivers

Road safety technology company Acusensus is developing an AI screening tool to measure the attentiveness, reaction time, control and impairment level of drivers in real time. This enhancement to the company’s patented Heads-Up technology will allow law enforcement to alert nearby police officers to any impaired drivers, who will be pulled over and tested.

Acusensus says it is more than halfway through the R&D phase, having developed a simulator that utilises AI and tests both impaired and sober drivers through a range of scenarios. Development has been facilitated by the Federal Office of Road Safety, along with academic associate Griffith University.

Founder and Managing Director Alexander Jannink built the company to solve the biggest challenges of road safety and law enforcement, with a mission to reduce road trauma worldwide.

“In the coming years, I’m looking forward to being able to deploy this both in Australia and internationally and make a real impact on the hundreds of thousands of people killed every year by drug- and alcohol-affected drivers,” Jannink said.

He says with nearly half of drivers killed on Victorian roads in the past five years found to have alcohol or drugs in their system, he believes this figure would be consistent across the country.

“We know alcohol and drugs plays a significant part in road fatalities. By eliminating this problem with the help of AI technology, we could potentially save hundreds of lives each year in Australia alone,” he said.

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