Hi-tech camera operation to target drivers at up to 200 sites

State-of-the-art cameras will target motorists flouting mobile phone and seatbelt laws. See the list of locations across Victoria where the blitz will be carried out.

More than 70,000 motorists flouting mobile phone and seatbelt laws face being whacked with hefty fines in the next year under a hi-tech blitz.

Six state-of-the-art cameras will target drivers across up to 200 sites in a move expected to add tens of millions of dollars to government coffers.

The blitz, launching Saturday, follows a three-month trial.

The Herald Sun can also reveal the number of cameras will double from the amount used in the trial, with the target sites also increasing from 125 to about 200.

Motorists will be hit with hefty fines if they’re caught using their mobile phones while driving. Picture: Victoria Police

During the trial, offending motorists have been issued with warnings instead of fines. But from July 1, Victorians face steep penalties including four demerit points and fines of up to $577.

In their first month of operation, the state’s first three cameras caught almost 3000 motorists using mobile phones or driving without seatbelts. Another camera has since been added, with two more entering service next month.

Each camera, fixed on a trailer, operates for an average of 2000 hours a month.

The cameras – which detect and take photos of drivers who use mobile phones and can pick up people in front seats not wearing seatbelts – are currently authorised to operate at more than 100 sites across the state.

But Police Minister Anthony Carbines has told parliament’s Public Accounts and Estimates Committee about 200 sites have been identified as suitable.

Mr Carbines said statistics from Monash University’s Accident Research Centre showed the hi-tech initiative saved lives.

Sites had been identified where the cameras operated “effectively” he said, adding he was “really confident” the artificial intelligence technology” would trigger “changes in driver behaviour”.

Already this year, 150 lives have been lost on Victorian roads, making the road toll 27 per cent higher than the same time last year.

Police have blamed speed, mobile device distractions and loss of concentration as top causes of road deaths in 2023. More than half of lives lost have been on rural roads, most on high-speed roads and freeways with posted speed limits above 100km/h.

Police are concerned about drivers’ speed, mobile device distractions and loss of concentration. Picture: Tony Gough

The first of 35 new fixed road safety cameras have also come online, with more to be added later this year.

Mr Carbines said departmental officials worked with an independent committee of experts from Victoria Police and VicRoads to determine where they would be set up.

“Location is chosen based on a number of factors including harm, crash history and reports of excessive speeding,” he said.

Every dollar raised from speed cameras would go to improving road safety and infrastructure, reducing transport costs for businesses and improving access for local communities, he said.

The government estimates distracted drivers contribute to and factor in 11 per cent of road fatalities. Driver distraction is also estimated to cause more than 400 serious injuries every year.

“Research has shown this technology, the distracted driver cameras, has the capacity to prevent some 95 casualty crashes per year,” Mr Carbines said.