June 2025
Here at Lodge Automotive, June is when we see the A3 really come alive, commuters heading to Guildford and London, families off to the South Coast, and plenty of classic cars heading to Goodwood Festival of Speed. This year, though, the conversation in our
waiting room has been dominated by one thing: the new AI road-safety cameras that started appearing on Hampshire roads and are set to go nationwide from August.
We’ve spent the last few weeks digging into the data, because if something is going to affect the way our customers drive, we want to know whether it’s genuinely making the roads safer or just another way to catch people out.
The results are actually impressive. Trials in Devon & Cornwall, Durham and Greater Manchester have shown that where these AI cameras have been operating, seatbelt use has gone up and mobile-phone offences have dropped by a third in the first twelve months.
Hampshire Police and the Safer Roads Partnership have confirmed that similar “Heads Up” systems will be monitoring the A3, A272 and A325 corridors from late summer 2025. The cameras use artificial intelligence to spot phone use and seatbelt offences, but every single image is checked by two human beings before any action is taken, so the stories you might have heard about being fined for holding a satsuma are, thankfully, urban myths.
From our point of view in the workshop, anything that reduces distracted driving on the stretch of the A3 that runs right past us has to be a good thing. We still see the aftermath of far too many rear-end shunts and single-vehicle accidents caused by people being distracted. If a camera makes even one driver put their phone in the boot before they leave, we’re all for it.
Of course, some customers are worried about privacy, and that’s fair. But the cameras delete images within seconds unless an offence is confirmed, and the early evidence shows behaviour really does change for the better over time.
So, while you’re enjoying the longer evenings and the run up to Goodwood, why not pop in for our free summer safety check? We’ll make sure your tyres, brakes and lights are spot-on – because even with AI watching the roads, the best safety feature is still a well-maintained car. Safe travels from all of us here in Liphook.
