NSW mobile phone cameras will now also be used to check whether drivers are wearing seatbelts

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

Roads Minister John Graham said that despite 50 years of seat belt law, 10,000 people a year are fined for not wearing one.

“Sadly, we continue to see lives lost every year in accidents where someone was not wearing a seat belt and paid the ultimate price,” he said.

“We know that our mobile phone detection cameras, introduced by the former government in 2020, have been effective in changing this dangerous behavior over time, and we expect the same result as we expand their use for enforcement of the seat belt.

The use of cameras to suppress seat belt use is expected to save between 17 and 26 lives over five years.

The scheme will start 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 deaths and two-thirds of serious injuries where people are not wearing seat belts occur on the country’s roads.

“The NSW Government takes road safety seriously and the introduction of seat belt infringement camera enforcement will ensure people buckle up on every journey,” she said.

The money raised will go towards road safety programmes, with the first fines for infringement detected by the cameras expected to be issued in the first quarter of 2025.