Account raids, car clamps: Debt collector crackdown on phone fools

As the value of unpaid mobile phone fines being chased down by the state’s debt collection agency skyrockets by over 800 per cent, the agency has insisted this is what it will do to chase down the money.

The value of unpaid mobile phone fines being chased down by the state’s debt collection agency has sky rocketed by over 800 per cent in the wake of new cameras being used to catch out reckless drivers.

A massive $83.2m in fines related to drivers using their mobile phones behind the wheel are now sitting on the State Penalties Enforcement Registry’s books after the penalties were left unpaid.

This is up 856 per cent from the $8.7m in mobile phone fines that SPER was pursuing before hi-tech offence detection cameras were rolled out on Queensland roads in November last year.

The value of unpaid seatbelt fines held by SPER has also climbed by a substantial 284 per cent to reach $21.9m in the roughly 13 months since the cameras began issuing penalties.

A spokesman for SPER insisted the debt collection agency would take enforcement action when people refused to pay their debts.

“This includes taking money from debtors’ bank accounts or wages, clamping and seizing vehicles, and suspending driver licences to ensure debtors meet their obligations,” the spokesman said.

“We encourage anyone with a fine to pay on time, before it gets this serious. SPER debts don’t go away.”

A still from a Queensland Police video of drivers being caught using their mobile phone behind the wheel.

The actual number of unpaid mobile phone-related fines held by SPER increased from 19,962 to 81,360 since the cameras were turned on – reflecting a 307 per cent spike.

And the number of unpaid seatbelt-related fines held by the debt collector climbed from 18,211 to 35,420 over the same period – equating to a 93.5 per cent jump.

The increase in both mobile phone and seatbelt penalties held by SPER is still smaller than the increase in fines that have been given out for both offences under the new cameras.

For example, in the three years between 2019 and 2021 – which included two months at the end of 2021 when the cameras were used – there was an average of 8,180 fines dished out per year.

In contrast, there were 119,862 camera-detected mobile phone fines issued during the first full year of the technology’s use – reflecting an increase of 1365 per cent from the preceding three year average.

The Palaszczuk government increased the fines for mobile phone offences to $1000 in February 2020, and they did the same to the seatbelt offences on July 1 this year.

“Issuing penalties for traffic offences is a key behaviour change technique which is used extensively in jurisdictions around the world,” a Department of Transport and Main Roads spokesman said.

“There is a great deal of evidence supporting the effectiveness of penalties to bring about behaviour change.”

Originally published as Account raids, car clamps: Debt collector crackdown on phone fools