It's hoped new safety cameras rolling out in the new year will address what WA's Road Safety Commissioner has called a "culture problem" on the state's roads. The new high-tech cameras can pick up on mobile phone use, speeding and seatbelt offences simultaneously in another attempt to address WA's rising road toll.
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TVTranscript
00:00Less of this, with more of these.
00:07This is about drivers changing their behaviour.
00:11We have a culture problem, we need to address it,
00:14and these cameras are the first step in doing that.
00:17Six new mobile 24-7 safety cameras cracking down on distracted drivers
00:22and high-risk behaviour that's contributed to a shocking year
00:26on WA roads of 182 deaths.
00:29The highest since 2016.
00:31They'll be able to detect illegal mobile phone use
00:34and seatbelt offences and can be linked up with speed cameras.
00:38If you are driving a vehicle, leave your phone alone,
00:41belt up and drive to the conditions.
00:44If you don't, your selfish actions will endanger not only yourself
00:48but others you share the road with.
00:50The cameras were trialled for six months in 2022
00:53and caught more than 66,000 drivers on their phones
00:56and just under 11,500 seatbelt offences.
01:00More recently, last month,
01:02one fixed camera on one lane of the Kwinana Freeway
01:05picked up over 6,000 people using their mobile phone
01:09and over 5,000 failing to wear a seatbelt or wearing it incorrectly.
01:14In Queensland and in New South Wales,
01:16they've rolled out similar technology to deal with mobile phones
01:20and that has proved.
01:22In the first three to six months of cameras used for mobile phones
01:25in New South Wales and Queensland, we had a 25-30% drop.
01:29The new cameras use high-power artificial intelligence
01:33to learn and recognise different shapes
01:35to determine, for example, whether someone is holding a mobile phone
01:39or a packet of cigarettes.
01:41Everyone who gets behind the wheel makes decisions.
01:44From the time you pick your keys up off the kitchen bench
01:47to the time you get to your destination,
01:49you're making hundreds and hundreds and thousands of decisions.
01:52The cameras will roll out from January 26
01:55with a caution period for mobile and seatbelt offences.
01:58Proper infringements are expected to commence in early April.