In the last half-year, over 54,000 citations have been issued to drivers in Western Australia for improperly wearing seatbelts or not wearing them at all.
These violations were detected by AI-powered cameras, and recent statistics show that nearly $10 million in fines have been collected since the cameras were officially activated in October.
Among those penalized is Perth resident Steven Shaw.
During a two-month span from December to January, AI cameras captured his passenger improperly wearing a seatbelt on the freeway four separate times.
“When you’re driving at 100 km/h on the freeway, monitoring a passenger’s seatbelt positioning safely is nearly impossible without risking an accident,” Shaw explained to 9News.
However, as the driver, Shaw was penalized with over $2000 in fines and 20 demerit points, leading to a four-month dispute that threatened his livelihood.
“There was two or three weeks where I didn’t know if I’d lost my licence, I was in limbo and my wife driving much of the time,” Shaw said.
Shaw challenged his infringements, with the Department of Transport withdrawing all but the first one, which he’ll contest in court.
The father is one of 2800 drivers who’ve successfully appealed their infringement notices, wiping $2.2 million in fines.
“AI cameras in my opinion are not suitable for this form of infringement, they are for speeding and phones,” Shaw said.
WA Premier Roger Cook said it’s not the AI cameras’ fault but that the driver gets clocked multiple times in a short window.
“People are often getting penalised once, twice or three times before they’re even aware that a fine has been raised in their name,” Cook said.
Despite the AI camera backlash, the WA government plans to roll out even more within the next six months.
The opposition says the government needs to iron out the issues before launching more.
“The government haven’t gotten it right,” Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas said.
“It needs to be tweaked and they need to get it right before more fines are issued.”
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