Australia Begins Using Cameras to Catch Motorists Using Mobile Phones

Australia has become the first country in the world to introduce a system of cameras designed to detect when a driver is using their mobile phone.

Australia has become the first country in the world to introduce a system of cameras designed to detect when a driver is using their mobile phone.

It is hoped that the new system will dramatically cut the number of fatalities that occur each year due to phone use behind the wheel, with a planned reduction of 30% for all road deaths over the next two years.

The cameras have been rolled out in New South Wales, where the government estimates that around 158 casualties have been caused by phone use between 2012 and 2018. Transport NSW, the body which operates the cameras, claims that the new equipment will work in all weather conditions and at all times of the day. Speaking to the local media, Assistant Commissioner of NSW Police, Michael Corboy, said that the new deterrent will “change the culture” on the state’s roads.

Artificial intelligence reviews images to detect phones in the hands of drivers, which are then passed to authorised personnel for verification.

Offenders will be issued with a warning for the first three months of the camera system's operation, a period of grace for drivers to adjust. After that, the penalty will be points and a fine of £180 for those caught on a standard road, and £240 in a school zone.

The system has previously had a successful, six-month trial in Sydney, but a Parliamentary committee has warned that it may create a strain on the legal system.

The cameras, and the enabling legislation, shifts the burden of proof onto drivers, requiring them to prove that the object in their hand is not a mobile phone.

The committee also warns that if just 1.8% of the 135 million photographed motorists each year are caught, and 3% of them wish to launch a challenge to the penalty, then almost 73,000 cases would flood local courts.

In a statement, Andrew Constance, New South Wales' minister for roads, said: "The NSW Government is serious about reducing our state's road toll and rolling out mobile phone detection cameras is another way we will do this."

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