The West Australian government will spend $80 million on a new road safety program, which includes the installation of more than 140 road safety cameras across the state.

A quarter of that money will be put towards four different types of cameras, aimed at deterring dangerous driving on West Australian roads.

The new cameras include:

six safety cameras that capture mobile phone and seatbelt use inside the vehiclefour point-to-point cameras that capture average speeds between two locations32 near-miss cameras that capture activity at potentially dangerous intersections100 “smiley face” cameras that capture and display speeds in real-time to encourage drivers to slow down

Potential locations for the four new point-to-point cameras include the Great Eastern Highway and Indian Ocean Drive.

Two cars on a highway, one towing a trailer, pass by a pole mounted speed camera.

A point-to-point speed camera on WA’s Forrest Highway. (Twitter: Road Safety Commission)

The smiley face cameras will be installed around schools and areas with high pedestrian activity.

Since their installation in January, the cameras capturing mobile phone and seatbelt use have photographed a range of offences, with some people apparently taking drugs behind the wheel and others travelling with unrestrained infants. 

Road Safety Minister Reece Whitby said the cameras were an effective way to deter speeding and dangerous behaviour on WA roads, with data from previous road safety camera trials showing a decline in infringements after the cameras were installed.

A man drives with one leg on the dashboard while using a mobile phone.

The cameras can capture all manner of driver behaviour, such as this man driving with one leg on the dashboard.  (Supplied)

“What we had was an average of 47,500 infringement possibilities in that first trial period,” Mr Whitby said.

“People were warned, they weren’t fined, but when the cameras went live in terms of infringements being issued, it was just over 31,000 fines issued.

“So that tells me we’ve had behaviour change with those new safety cameras.”‘Australian first’

The state government is also looking at ways to lessen penalties for drivers who generally follow the rules and increase penalties for dangerous drivers.

Reece Whitby stands speaking at a press conference with screens and another man visible in the background.

Reece Whitby says the cameras are working in terms of improving driver behaviour. (ABC News: Grace Burmas)

“We believe that good drivers should not be treated the same way as high-risk drivers, idiots that go out there hooning, idiots that believe that they can be reckless or that the speed limit doesn’t apply to them,” Mr Whitby said.

“So, we’re looking at ways that we can introduce a bit of flexibility into the system.”

“This is an Australian first, certainly. 

A close-up shot of a new road safety camera on the end of a metal arm.

The new cameras will be similar to this one, which has been operating in Perth since January. (ABC News: Ruby Littler)

“This idea that we will give an exception to those people that might have a small over the limit fine infringement, and it might be the first time in two or three years.

“We want to reward good drivers.”

The government will spend $5 million on increasing infringement processing capabilities with a focus on targeting “high harm, high frequency” offenders.

Of the $80 million, $25 million will be spent on making metro and regional roads safer, and $27 million will be spent on education and awareness.

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