Gold Coast mum fined $5,390 for little-known seatbelt rule

"What the actual f***," the woman vented on social media over the enormous infringement notice. Did you know about this surprising road rule?

A Queensland woman copped a whopping fine after she was caught on a traffic camera wearing her seatbelt the wrong way.

Gold Coast mum Lauren Hyland learned a little-known road rule the hard way—with a hefty $5,390 fine.

Traffic cameras caught her wearing her seatbelt under her arm while driving her company car around the sunshine state.

The official reason written on the infringement notice was: "Driver not wearing seatbelt properly adjusted/fastened".

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Gold Coast mum Lauren copped a big fine for a lesser-known seatbelt rule. Picture: Lauren Hayland/Instagram

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"What the actual f***," Lauren wrote on an Instagram story showing the huge fine.

"Because my seatbelt was under my arm not on top... $5,390!"

No demerit points were issued and she had until the end of the month to pay the fine.

Five times the fine

Because Lauren was driving a company car, her fine was five times more than the fine drivers in privately registered vehicles would receive.

According to information from the Queensland Government, seatbelt infringements resulted in a fine of $1,078 and four demerit points.

This fine is applicable to both drivers and passengers aged over 16 years.

The fine Lauren received. Picture: Lauren Hyland/Instagram

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Queensland's road safety crackdown

Lauren was caught by one of the state's new high-tech mobile phone and seatbelt cameras. 

In the first eight months of operation, these cameras, which had been installed in secret locations across Queensland, netted more than $100 million in fines. 

The cameras used artificial intelligence software (AI), could see through windscreens irregardless of windscreens or weather, and worked to identify mobile phone use or seatbelt failures for drivers and front seat passengers. 

By 30 June, according data from the Department of Transport and Main Roads, published by Brisbane Times, 35,000 drivers or passengers had been caught not wearing seatbelts. 

All money received from fines was reinvested into road safety initiatives. 

Little-known road rule

Earlier this year, another  Queensland woman named Hailey Gillard took to TikTok to complain about being slapped with a $1,000 fine for the very same reason.

“If you’re having a bad day, at least it’s not as bad as mine,” she told her 12K followers on the platform.

“I just got fined $,1000 for wearing my seatbelt incorrectly, which my seatbelt was underneath my arm because I was a bit carsick.

“So I had to lean over and I got a $1000 fine from the big policio," Hailey added.

“Ahh life is good … might cry later."

This article was originally published on 13 October, 2022, and was updated on 28 April, 2023. 

Originally published as Gold Coast mum fined $5,390 for little-known seatbelt rule