Australia snapping drivers on the phone

THE world’s first mobile phone detection camera regime was rolled out in Australia yesterday in an attempt to reduce the number of road deaths arising from phone-related crashes.

Authorities in New South Wales, the country’s most populous state, deployed the cameras as part of a plan to cut road deaths by 30 per cent over the next two years.

The cameras operate day and night in all weather conditions, according to officials from Transport for NSW, which manages transport services in the state. There were at least 158 casualties in accidents involving mobile phones on roads in the state between 2012-18, according to government estimates.

Michael Corboy, the assistant commissioner of NSW Police, told local media that the system would “change the culture” on roads.

The cameras use artificial intelligence to review images and detect illegal use of the devices, according to Transport for NSW, and authorities plan to take 135 million photos per year.

The technology was trialled between January and June this year. In two fixed locations in Sydney, 1.8 per cent of drivers were caught using their phones illegally.

A parliamentary committee warned that because the legislation reversed the onus of proof from police to drivers, local courts could be

73,000

The number of potential court challenges a year stemming from the new camera system

flooded with cases. It will be up to the driver to show that, on the balance of probabilities, the object in their hand was not a mobile phone.

The committee estimated it could lead to almost 73,000 challenges being heard in courts each year.

Motorists will be fined £180, rising to £240 in a school zone, and will receive penalty points.