State waives over $1 million in fines from AI-assisted road safety cameras

Motorists in Western Australia have had more than $1.1 million worth of fines withdrawn from artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted road safety cameras.

The cameras began operating in WA last year, following their earlier rollout in states including New South Wales in 2020, but the WA Department of Transport has now waived more than 2000 infringements issued using the technology.

“What we’ve actually done is waived a number of fines from people who have been fined in quick succession because they simply weren’t aware of the technology catching them out,” WA road safety minister Reece Whitby told ABC Radio Perth.

The use of AI cameras to detect offending motorists has drawn criticism, including cases where innocent drivers were incorrectly issued infringements both in Australia and overseas.

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The cameras are commonly used to detect offences such as illegal mobile phone use by drivers, and improper seatbelt usage by drivers and passengers alike.

“The law has always said that the driver has responsibility for the safety of [passengers], including the correct wearing of seatbelts of people in their car,” Mr Whitby said.

“These new safety cameras have actually changed behaviour, and I have no doubt they’ve actually saved lives.

“We’re looking at rolling out more, but again, we want to take a very careful and staged approach.”

In Queensland, which has some of the highest monetary penalties for motoring offences in Australia, AI cameras came under scrutiny late last year over potential privacy concerns.

This followed record fine revenue, with the state government collecting $464.3 million in the 2024 financial year – almost triple its 2019–20 total – despite the number of fines falling by 30 per cent.

In WA, around 53,000 fines for improper seatbelt usage have been issued using AI-assisted cameras, making the roughly 2000 withdrawn a small proportion of the total.

“We’re seeing offences being picked up at a scale we’ve not seen before because the cameras actually look down into the [vehicle’s] cabin,” Mr Whitby said.

The minister said the withdrawal of $1.1 million in fines demonstrated the system was working, with motorists able to successfully appeal incorrect penalties.

“Less than four per cent of offences, seatbelt offences in particular, have been overturned. It means that most people are copping the fine and realise that they’re doing the wrong thing,” he said.

“If you do have a legitimate issue, and you think you’ve been wronged and it’s unfair, you will get a fair crack and you will be considered.” MORE: Privacy concerns raised over ‘unfair’ AI-assisted mobile phone and seatbelt camera fines