WA\u2019s controversial AI cameras have caught more than 81,000 motorists for suspected seatbelt offences \u2014 but hundreds of cases have since been dumped by police prosecutors.<\/p>\n
The cameras have issued 81,412 seatbelt-related infringements since being introduced in WA, with about 5700 \u2014 7 per cent \u2014 overturned through the Department of Transport review process.<\/p>\n
WA Police have separately dismissed hundreds of cases after prosecutors decided there was \u201cno reasonable prospect\u201d of conviction.<\/p>\n
The figures reveal the growing gap between what the AI technology detects and what can ultimately be proved in court.<\/p>\n
The technology uses cameras to identify drivers and passengers who appear not to be properly restrained, with images then reviewed before infringements are issued.<\/p>\n
But some motorists have successfully challenged fines where the camera footage did not establish that they knowingly committed an offence.<\/p>\n
One Perth driver was fined after his 10-year-old daughter\u2019s seatbelt slipped underneath her arm while they were travelling on the Kwinana Freeway.<\/p>\n
The fine was eventually overturned, more than eight months after it was issued.<\/p>\n
Another motorist was caught on Toodyay Road after a passenger\u2019s seatbelt slipped as she reached into the back seat to give her four-year-old child a bottle.<\/p>\n
The cases highlight one of the difficulties facing police \u2014 proving not simply that a seatbelt was incorrectly worn but that the circumstances amounted to an offence that could be successfully prosecuted.<\/p>\n
The figures come as authorities point to a sharp fall in the number of offences being detected by the cameras.<\/p>\n