SA police say more than 28,000 drivers have been caught using mobile phones behind the wheel in the past three months.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Well, five cameras, just like the one behind me, has been catching South Australian drivers
00:07using their phones for the past six months.
00:09They're the eyes in the sky, aimed at keeping drivers' eyes on the road.
00:14And in the last three months to December, it's caught 28,000 people.
00:19It's 40,000 less, though, than during the grace period, when people didn't have to pay
00:24a $660 fine.
00:27But now they do.
00:28And more than 200 drivers were caught multiple times.
00:32In fact, one man was pinged 41 times, if you can believe it, totalling a fine of $27,000.
00:38Now, he has lost his licence, and police will be reviewing that case, but it is worth knowing
00:45that two more cameras are set for Adelaide next year.
00:48But South Australia isn't the only state where this is an issue.
00:53In Western Australia, there will be eight cameras rolling out next year, with penalties
00:58up to $1,000 from April.
01:01They were trialled in 2022, and they caught 66,000 drivers.
01:07And earlier this year, 24,000 drivers.
01:10Now, these cameras can also pick up other breaches, like people not wearing their seatbelts,
01:16or even passengers holding babies on their laps.
01:19The WA Road Safety Commissioner hopes that these cameras will help stamp out a culture
01:25problem he says on the roads, which has contributed to a massive 182 deaths on WA roads, the highest
01:33since 2016.
01:34Now, this technology is in place right around the country, so Australians everywhere have
01:40an incentive to keep their hands on the wheel and off of their phones.