How thousands of drivers are avoiding being stung by mobile phone detection cameras thanks to a 'loophole' that keeps their identity secret
- Cameras caught around 43,000 drivers on their phone between March and June
- Eight per cent of the fines did not give demerit points to the offending drivers
- Businesses are allowed to avoid naming the driver in exchange for a bigger fine
- A NSW Labor minister said it allowed dangerous drivers to keep their licence
Thousands of drivers busted using their mobile phones behind the wheel are exploiting a loophole to avoid losing demerits points, while the government nets millions of extra dollars in revenue.
Between March and June this year about 43,000 Sydney motorists were caught on their phones, but eight per cent were linked to company-owned cars.
If businesses can not identify the driver the $349 fine is increased to $1,745, but the offender avoids the five demerit point hit.
The cameras generated an additional $19 million in revenue for the NSW government from March until June - a figure that would be significantly smaller if all fined drivers were nominated.
A 'loophole' in the mobile phone detection cameras system allows vehicles linked to business take a larger fine over nominating the guilty driver so the offender is not hit with demerit points. Pictured are drivers caught by the cameras
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Labor's shadow minister for roads John Graham told The Sydney Morning Herald the government needed the extra revenue and was hesitant to address the issue.
'This loophole is leaving dangerous drivers on our roads. Some of these thousands of drivers should no longer have a licence,' Mr Graham said.
'There is a conspiracy of silence about this behaviour because the government needs the money.'
Mr Graham estimated the $1,745 fines had collected nearly $6million during the time period.
The mobile phone detection cameras generated an additional $19 million in revenue for the NSW government between March and June. Pictured are the cameras in NSW
Transport Minister Andrew Constance said he was aware of the issue.
'This matter is under consideration as part of the statutory review of the Road Transport Act 2013,' he said.
Mr Constance noted that while the existing regulations allowed drivers to escape demerit points if caught on camera, police officers gave no such exemptions.
Mobile phone detection cameras were first rolled out in Sydney early last year on a trial basis before the government started issuing fines in March 2020.
Labor's shadow minister for roads John Graham said the government was hesitant to fix the issue due to the extra millions it was making
The camera fines have given a huge boost the NSW government's bottom line, recording $26 million in total fines for mobile phones in the last financial year.
The figure compares to $10 million the previous financial year when the fines were given out exclusively by police officers.
Victoria and Queensland have rolled out their own mobile phone detection camera programs, with each featuring an initial trail period that will only issue warnings to drivers rather than fines.
Other states in Australia are expected to implement the technology in time.
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