Distracted driver detection

1. A method comprising:

capturing a video frame from a near-infrared video camera, the video frame comprising a motor vehicle depicted within the video frame;

capturing position information of the motor vehicle with a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device;

providing the video frame and position information to a trained classifier at a remote server via a network, wherein the provided video frame is compressed for transmission via the network and is selected to minimize data usage of the network based on how much of a motor vehicle is contained therein and the distance of the motor vehicle from the near-infrared video camera;

determining, from the trained classifier, a type of the motor vehicle depicted within the video frame;

determining, from the trained classifier, a location and a velocity of the motor vehicle depicted within the video frame, the velocity having a magnitude and a direction of travel;

determining from the trained classifier a presence of a predetermined action by the motor vehicle; and

based on the determined location, the velocity with the magnitude and direction of travel, and the predetermined action, sending an alert via the network indicating the presence of the predetermined action and at least one identifier associated with the motor vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined action is selected from the group consisting of:

safe driving;

drinking;

eating;

looking left, right, or backwards;

speaking to a passenger;

grooming; and

using a mobile device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one identifier comprises a license plate.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one identifier comprises a geographical location.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alert is sent to a user having a shortest distance to a location of the video camera.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alert is sent to a plurality of users, each of the plurality of users being within a distance of a location of the video camera that is less than a predetermined threshold.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising logging the alert in a database.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the type of motor vehicle is selected from the group consisting of: car, bus, truck, van, tractor-trailer, and motorcycle.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the trained classifier comprises an artificial neural network.

10. A system comprising:

a near-infrared video camera;

a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device;

a computing node comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied with the computer readable storage medium, the program instructions executable by a processor of the computing node to cause the processor to perform a method comprising:

capturing a video frame from the near-infrared video camera, the video frame comprising a motor vehicle depicted within the video frame;

capturing position information of the motor vehicle with the LIDAR device;

providing the video frame and position information to a trained classifier at a remote server via a network, wherein the provided video frame is compressed for transmission via the network and is selected to minimize data usage of the network based on how much of a motor vehicle is contained therein and the distance of the motor vehicle from the near-infrared video camera;

determining, from the trained classifier, a type of the motor vehicle depicted within the video frame;

determining, from the trained classifier, a location and a velocity of the motor vehicle depicted within the video frame, the velocity having a magnitude and a direction of travel;

determining from the trained classifier the presence of a predetermined action by the motor vehicle; and

based on the determined location, the velocity with the magnitude and direction of travel, and the predetermined action, sending an alert via the network indicating the presence of the predetermined action and at least one identifier associated with the motor vehicle.

11. The system of claim 10 , where the system is mounted on an enforcement motor vehicle.

12. The system of claim 10 , where the system is fixed to a ground.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the predetermined action is selected from the group consisting of:

safe driving;

drinking;

eating;

looking left, right, or backwards;

speaking to a passenger;

grooming; and

using a mobile device.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one identifier comprises a license plate.

15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one identifier comprises a geographical location.

16. The system of claim 10 , wherein the alert is sent to a user having a shortest distance to a location of the video camera.

17. The system of claim 10 , wherein the alert is sent to a plurality of users, each of the plurality of users having a distance, each distance being less than a predetermined threshold.

18. The system of claim 10 , further comprising logging the alert in a database.

19. The system of claim 10 , wherein the type of motor vehicle is selected from the group consisting of: car, bus, truck, van, tractor-trailer, and motorcycle.

20. The system of claim 10 , wherein the trained classifier comprises an artificial neural network.

21. A computer program product for detecting distracted driving, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to perform a method comprising:

capturing a video frame from a near-infrared video camera, the video frame comprising a motor vehicle depicted within the video frame;

capturing position information of the motor vehicle with a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device;

providing the video frame and position information to a trained classifier at a remote server via a network, wherein the provided video frame is compressed for transmission via the network and is selected to minimize data usage of the network based on how much of a motor vehicle is contained therein and the distance of the motor vehicle from the near-infrared video camera;

determining, from the trained classifier, a type of the motor vehicle depicted within the video frame;

determining, from the trained classifier, a location and a velocity of the motor vehicle depicted within the video frame, the velocity having a magnitude and a direction of travel;

determining from the trained classifier the presence of a predetermined action by a motor vehicle depicted therein; and

based on the determined location, the velocity with the magnitude and direction of travel, and the predetermined action, sending an alert via a network indicating the presence of the predetermined action and at least one identifier associated with the motor vehicle.

22. The computer program product of claim 21 , wherein the predetermined action is selected from the group consisting of:

safe driving;

drinking;

eating;

looking left, right, or backwards;

speaking to a passenger;

grooming; and

using a mobile device.

23. The computer program product of claim 21 , wherein the at least one identifier comprises a license plate.

24. The computer program product of claim 21 , wherein the at least one identifier comprises a geographical location.

25. The computer program product of claim 21 , wherein the alert is sent to a user having a shortest distance to a location of the video camera.

26. The computer program product of claim 21 , wherein the alert is sent to a plurality of users, each of the plurality of users having a distance that is less than a predetermined threshold.

27. The computer program product of claim 21 , further comprising logging the alert in a database.

28. The computer program product of claim 21 , wherein the type of motor vehicle is selected from the group consisting of: car, bus, truck, van, tractor-trailer, and motorcycle.

29. The computer program product of claim 21 , wherein the trained classifier comprises an artificial neural network.