Mobile phone detection cameras catch over 270,000 offenders in Australia

The proportion of drivers in New South Wales illegally using their mobile phones has dropped fivefold since AI cameras began catching offenders

Technology

8 December 2021

By Alice Klein

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Uncredited/AP/Shutterstock (10421309a) This Jan. 12, 2019, photo captured by a Mobile Phone Detection Camera and released by Transport for NSW shows a driver using a mobile phone while driving in Australia. Australian state New South Wales is attempting to persuade the public to put down their smartphones while driving by rolling out cameras to prosecute distracted motorists. New South Wales Roads Minister Andrew Constance said, Australia's most populous state was the first jurisdiction in the world to use such technology to punish drivers distracted by social media, text messages or phone calls. The government intends to roll out 45 Mobile Phone Detection Cameras across the state by December, he said Australia Distracted Drivers - 23 Sep 2019 — A driver using their phone in a photo captured by a mobile phone detection camera in New South Wales, Australia

Uncredited/AP/Shutterstock

World-first cameras in Australia that use artificial intelligence to detect drivers using their mobile phones have caught thousands of offenders and seem to be deterring the risky behaviour.

New South Wales, the first state to use them, began issuing fines based on the technology in March 2020. Since then, the cameras have checked more than 130 million vehicles and spotted more than 270,000 drivers using their phones.

The proportion of …