Mobile phone detection cameras in the nation’s capital are days away from detecting a broader range of road rule breaches. Authorities have reminded drivers that cameras will be able to detect seatbelt offences by both drivers and their passengers from November 3.
Fines of $574 apply for failing to wear a seatbelt properly fastened and adjusted for drivers, who can also be pinged for failing to ensure a passenger is properly restrained, too.
It comes after the Legislative Assembly unanimously passed the Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Amendment Bill 2025 last month, expanding the detection powers of the territory’s cameras.
It’s part of the ACT Government’s commitment to reducing deaths and serious injuries on roads.
“Seatbelts save lives,” declared ACT minister ACT Attorney-General Tara Cheyne last month. Cheyne said the move is not only about holding those behaving dangerously on roads accountable, but increasing awareness.
An ACT government spokesperson previously told Yahoo News the mobile traffic detection network now includes three portable cameras and two fixed units.
“All Mobile Traffic Detection Devices will be expanded to target drivers and passengers not wearing seatbelts or not wearing them correctly,” they said.
States and territories have been eager to expand the capabilities of roadside device detection cameras. Source: AAP
An online explanatory statement clarified that people with a medical exemption from wearing a seatbelt — whether correctly or at all — who are detected by a camera while travelling in a rideshare vehicle can provide their medical information directly to Access Canberra, rather than to the rideshare driver.
Once enforcement of seatbelt offences begins, the cameras will operate in the same way as those detecting speeding, mobile phone use and registration breaches.
“If multiple offences take place at the same time, for example, a mobile device and a seatbelt offence, both can be captured in one event and the images can be used to issue multiple infringements,” Ms Cheyne said. “This is already a possibility through police enforcement.”
How a seatbelt must be worn
An infringement review process and payment management plans will also be available for those issued fines. A seatbelt is deemed “properly adjusted and fastened” if the clasp is buckled, the lap belt sits low and firmly on a person’s hips, and the sash sits over a person’s shoulder.
Road safety experts say cameras act as both a deterrent and an enforcement mechanism, targeting behaviours that are otherwise difficult for police to spot in real time.
The use of artificial intelligence has also allowed the technology to scan for multiple offences at once, from seatbelts to speeding.
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