Road rules New South Wales: NSW police to use mobile phone cameras to monitor seatbelt use

Cameras used on NSW roads to detect people using their mobile phones while driving will be expanded to monitor seatbelt compliance.

Roads Minister John Graham said despite 50 years of the seatbelt law, 10,000 people a year were fined for not wearing one.

“Sadly, we continue to see lives lost each and every year in crashes in which someone did not wear a seatbelt and paid the ultimate price,” he said.

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“We know our mobile phone detection cameras, introduced by the former government in 2020, have been effective in changing that dangerous behaviour over time, and we expect the same result as we expand their use to seatbelt enforcement.”

Using the cameras to crackdown on seatbelt use is hoped to save between 17 and 26 lives over five years.

The scheme will launch with a public awareness campaign and a nine-month period where people will receive warning letters instead of a fine.

Regional Transport and Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison welcomed the move, citing the statistic that 84 per cent of fatalities and two-thirds of serious injuries where people are not wearing seatbelts occur on country roads.

“The NSW government takes road safety seriously and the introduction of camera enforcement for seatbelt offences will ensure people buckle up on every trip,” she said.

Money raised will go towards road safety programs, with the first fines for the offence spotted by cameras expected to be issued in the first quarter of 2025.