Speeding motorist outwitted by artificial intelligence at toll booth

THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2023

A motorist was fined 7,000 baht for reckless driving on Wednesday and faces an additional speeding fine for racing his red Volvo through an M-Flow toll booth on Motorway No 9 last month.

The driver, identified as “Sarayut”, told police he thought he could evade payment by speeding through the automated toll booth, which uses video and artificial intelligence to record license plates.

Speeding motorist outwitted by artificial intelligence at toll booth

“I misunderstood how the system works,” he said. Highway police were unforgiving, saying his violations of traffic laws were compounded by a video he posted on Facebook that could undermine confidence in the automated toll system introduced early last year.

Sarayut posted the video of his December 13 attempt to evade payment at the toll booth. "The M-Flow toll fee collection system cannot charge motorists if they are speeding," he wrote in a comment on his video.

Speeding motorist outwitted by artificial intelligence at toll booth

Sarayut’s assumption proved costly.

He surrendered to highway police on Wednesday after receiving a summons. He admitted he was guilty, police said. The young man also said his attempt to avoid payment failed. About 10 minutes after he sped through the automated booth, he was automatically charged a toll, he said.

Speeding motorist outwitted by artificial intelligence at toll booth

Highway police charged Sarayut with reckless driving and sent him to Minburi Provincial Court, where he was fined 7,000 baht. Sarayut faces a second charge for speeding.

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