Drivers face $10 million in fines per month as detection cameras flood deadly roads
With more smart cameras on the way, Perth motorists will face one of the most monitored stretches of road in the country.
Traffic cameras busting drivers for mobile phone use, seatbelt offences and speeding continue to be rolled out across the country with motorists in one city now set to be confronted by nine cameras in one 25km stretch of freeways.
Western Australia at the end of last year heralded the rollout of six new mobile cameras across the state, and this week it was revealed a tender is out for four new 'smart cameras' for Perth freeways.
Once in place, motorists will face one of the most camera-concentrated stretches of road in the nation as the government ramps up its Road Safety Strategy after recording it's highest road toll in 10 years in 2024, when 190 people lost their lives.
Two new fixed cameras are proposed on each of the Kwinana and Mitchell Freeways in Perth. There are already two cameras in place at Bateman and Como on the Kwinana Freeway, and one at Innaloo on the Mitchell Freeway, WA Today reports. While there are two fixed point-to-point average speed cameras along the Forrest Highway in the city's southwest.
New mobile cameras to identify high-risk behaviours
"These fixed safety cameras will have the ability to identify a range of high-risk behaviours at once including not wearing or incorrectly wearing a seatbelt, using a mobile phone while driving and speeding,” Acting Road Safety Commissioner Rebecca Hamilton said.
A trial conducted on one lane of the Kwinana Freeway since November has produced "eye-opening" results in terms of how many drivers are committing offences.
"We see about 6,000 mobile phone offences per month, and about 5,000 seatbelt offences," Hamilton told ABC Radio Perth on Wednesday. It is estimated fines for those offences would generate revenue of between $5 million and $10 million a month, depending on the severity.
With the latest version of cameras being acquired by the WA government, Hamilton says the technology is improving all the time.
"We do see people doing different things to try and obscure what we can see through the windscreen, but the tech people involved in this are incredibly smart and very focused... we are confident we will stay in front of the curve, and there will be very few instances where we will not be able to detect that sort of stuff going on in the vehicle."
New cameras around Australia catching thousands of driving offences
The Acting Safety Commissioner hit back at suggestions the increased number of speed cameras is simply raising revenue for the government.
"These things are game changers," she said. "Queensland and NSW have been using this equipment now for a number of years and you can see real changes in people's behaviour."
South Australia has also recently introduced the technology and five cameras installed in Adelaide since October have recorded 28,000 mobile phone offences.
The cameras are also catching drivers out in Victoria, but some people have been incorrectly fined after allegedly being photographed with a phone. A report in Victoria found that challenged photos have not been "sufficiently reviewed and accurately assessed".
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