Amazon Plans AI-Powered Cameras in Delivery Vans to Improve Driver Safety

Amazon has revealed plans to install AI-powered video cameras in its branded delivery vans, in a move that the world's largest e-commerce firm says would improve safety of both drivers and the communities in which they deliver.

The company recently started rolling out camera-based safety technology across its delivery fleet, it said in an emailed statement on Wednesday.

"This technology will provide drivers real-time alerts to help them stay safe when they are on the road," the statement added.

The company's plans were earlier disclosed in an instructional video about the cameras, reported earlier in the day by technology publication the Information. 

Amazon said in the video that the cameras, developed by transportation technology company Netradyne, use artificial intelligence (AI) to provide warnings about speeding and distracted driving among other things.

They have been shown to reduce collisions and improve driver behaviour, Amazon's Karolina Haraldsdottir, a senior manager for last-mile safety, said in the video.

Amazon has come under some scrutiny in the past for accidents involving delivery drivers.

"Our intention with this technology is to set up drivers for success and provide them with support for being safer on road and handling incidents if and when they happen," Haraldsdottir said in the video.

The video explains that while the cameras will constantly record video, they only upload footage if triggered by actions like hard braking, driver drowsiness, following vehicles too closely.

© Thomson Reuters 2021

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