WA drivers vent frustrations as new AI traffic cameras pick up costly mistakes

West Australian drivers are voicing their frustrations at new AI-powered cameras set up to detect poor behaviour across the metropolitan area, with some claiming they had lost their licence over small mistakes without being given the chance to correct them.

One driver, Tom, called into ABC Radio on Thursday morning and said he had received seven fines in the mail all in one day, for driving while his seatbelt was tucked under his arm.

“You may not have sympathy for that, but the thing that I think is unfair about that is if you’ve been picked up by a cop first time, you might have said, ‘Obviously, I’ve got an issue here’,” he said.

“I’m not doing this deliberately, but I’ve obviously got a habit that I’ve got into. I’ll fix it. I’ll pay the fine this time and remedy it.

“Now I’m going to lose my license – there’s four [demerit] points for each those fines and there’s probably more to come because I wasn’t aware until the 19th that I was doing this.

“And at $500 times seven, I don’t think that’s proportionate to what the actual offence is.”

Another caller, Janine, told the ABC she was pinged twice two days over the holiday period for the same offence.

She said her daughter, who was neurodivergent, had been a passenger in the car and hadn’t been wearing her seatbelt properly.

“I am looking at the road. I’ve tried to do the right thing, I’ve had the right conversations, and I checked her as we were leaving, but I was focused on the road,” she said.

“I’ve gone from [having lost] zero demerit points to losing my license, and I’m the only one working in the family at the moment.”

Police Commissioner Col Blanch said every driver had a right to dispute the fines.

“Speed cameras have been out there for a long time, but AI cameras are new, and I suspect as those agencies move forward with these cameras, they will come up with ways to ensure that people aren’t fined incorrectly,” he said.

“I think everything is a case by case basis. It’s a really hard one to answer. There are genuine cases.

“In fact, we know people have medical certificates that do allow them to not wear a seat belt in certain circumstances, so those ones will always be difficult.

“I think the team that do run this process need to know that there will be exemptions from time to time.”

In December, the state government announced it had dished out $13 million in fines in just one month.

Some of the worst behaviour captured between October 8 and November 8 included a truck driver driving along Mitchell Freeway with no hands on the wheel, using his laptop and mobile phone while not wearing a seatbelt.

Another driver was caught wearing no seatbelt while cradling an unrestrained baby, while another was caught driving 20 kilometres over the speed limit in a school zone while using a mobile phone with no hands on the wheel.

“This is madness behind the wheel. Some of these photos are quite shocking when you see them, and we don’t want drivers doing these things,” Police Minister Reece Whitby said at the time.

“As for seat belts, that’s a big shock for me to have so many people offending in terms of not wearing a seat belt or not wearing it properly, 50 years after these laws were introduced for front-seat passengers in Australia is beyond mind-boggling.”

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