Brisbane woman fined after passenger caught on camera allegedly not wearing seatbelt

A Brisbane woman claims she has been wrongly fined for her passenger not wearing his seatbelt. Is she right? You be the judge. SEE THE PHOTO, VOTE IN OUR POLL

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A Brisbane woman claims she has been wrongly fined $1100 after her passenger was caught on camera allegedly not wearing his seatbelt.

Posting the image to Reddit, the woman says her partner, who was her passenger at the time, was wearing his seatbelt, though it was not visible because it was under his hoodie.

“As you can see in the photos the seat belt is worn correctly but her jumper is covering the seatbelt across her chest,” she said.

“You can still see it buckled in and you can see the shoulder strap coming out of the jumper.”

The woman wanted advice on whether it was worth disputing the fine.

Is the passenger wearing his seatbelt? A Brisbane woman fined $1100 claims this photo proves he was.

The post attracted hundreds of comments slamming the hidden traffic cameras, with others sharing similar experiences.

“I had a mobile phone fine when I was just resting my glasses case on my lap after pulling them out,” one person wrote.

Others questioned why the passenger’s seatbelt was under his jumper in the first place.

“Who the f*** zips their hoody over the seatbelt? Mad escape hazard,” one person wrote.

“ … just turn the AC down if you’re that cold. Who’s wearing a hoodie in Brisbane summer,” another added.

Another person said that by wearing his hoodie over the seatbelt, he could be breaking the law.

“It’s very likely the act of wearing something over the seatbelt is deemed not wearing the seatbelt correctly.”

While not commenting on the woman’s case, a Queensland Revenue Office spokesperson said potential seatbelt-related infringements are initially detected by artificial intelligence.

“Seatbelt cameras take images of each vehicle travelling in the lane of traffic that the camera is monitoring,” the spokesperson said.

“The images are then filtered by Artificial Intelligence software which detects if there was possible failure to correctly wear a seatbelt by the driver or front seat passenger.”

The spokesperson said if a possible offence is detected, the images are reviewed by an authorised officer to determine whether to issue an infringement.

“If an infringement notice is issued and the registered operator feels they were incorrectly fined, the infringement holder may submit an enquiry online to have the matter reviewed.

“In this event, QRO temporarily suspends any further action until the review is complete.”