Facial recognition identifies unlicensed drivers in Shanghai

SHANGHAI - It used to be a difficult task for Chinese traffic police to catch people driving without a valid license, but in Shanghai high-tech systems have proven to be efficient in handling such traffic violations.

Some 835 drivers have been caught and penalized for driving without a valid license since a citywide traffic regulation campaign began in 2016, Shanghai traffic police announced on Tuesday.

Police said a combination of facial recognition, big data and other high-tech solutions have assisted them in identifying unlicensed drivers.

Some drivers whose licenses had been revoked or temporarily suspended previously took their chances and continued to drive, presuming that the police would not find out.

However, a facial recognition system now compares and analyzes every driver's face with their profile information and detects any violations, allowing Shanghai traffic police to keep an eye on all motorists.

Officers said that none of the 835 drivers tried to drive again after they were caught.

Shanghai has adopted the facial recognition technology to assist with various traffic violations including jaywalking and driving in the wrong direction.