According to Transport for NSW, 15 per cent of deaths on NSW roads every year still involve either drivers or passengers not wearing seatbelts. And with 354 people tragically lost on NSW roads last year, the NSW Government has decided to up the ante: improving the enforcement of the seatbelt law through the use of mobile phone detection cameras – from July 1, 2024. The cameras they'll use will be the same ones used to detect whether a driver is using a mobile phone.
Wearing a seatbelt in a moving vehicle has been a legal requirement in NSW for yonks, but data shows that, still, 150 people died while not wearing one in the five years between 2019 and 2023.
There will be no grace period once the cameras begin to be used for this purpose, and drivers found to be either not wearing a seatbelt themselves, or carrying passengers not wearing seatbelts, will be fined. The law will also apply to incorrect use of seatbelts (e.g. wearing your seatbelt under your arm/s).
We're told that all money raised from fines will be donated towards improving road safety across the state.
The year 2023 was the most deadly year on Australia’s roads in more than half a decade, and 2024 is currently on track to supersede it – with 124 people lost on roads in NSW by between January and Thursday, May 2, which is 16 more than the same time in 2023. So while the use of cameras to enforce the seatbelt law might seem like yet another Big Brother move, it’s not without good reason.
“Seatbelts save lives, it’s as simple as that," says NSW Minister for Roads, John Graham. "Wearing a seatbelt doubles a person’s chance of survival in a car crash, and the NSW Government is doing everything we can to make sure the simplest safety feature in a car is being used by everyone.”
Additional measures set to be introduced by the government to counter the rising number of road fatalities include doubling roadside enforcement sites used for mobile speed cameras, forcing all motorists driving on a foreign licence to convert to a NSW licence within six months, and introducing a demerit point trial which will see motorists who maintain a spotless record over 12 months have a demerit point removed from their record.
These announcements come at the beginning of National Road Safety Week.
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