After a year of watching and waiting, Canberra’s mobile phone detection cameras are about to strike.

Drivers snapped with a phone on their lap or in their hands by the overhead-mounted cameras will be issued an infringement and demerit points from Tuesday next week (20 February).

  • Zagorath
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    79 months ago

    Ha, only $600? Yous have it easy down in the ACT. The fine here in Queensland is double that. The same cameras also do seatbelts, which have an equal fine.

    Personally I’m not a fan of the fact that it applies even when stopped at lights. It should maybe still be an offence, but a different and significantly lesser one.

    • @[email protected]
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      39 months ago

      I hate knowing every light i stop at, the moron infront from the moment they got there is staring at their phone and not watching the light.

      I shouldn’t he six cars back see the light go green and be ready to take off while the idiot is on tbeir phone waiting for a beep or the world to move around them

      • Zagorath
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        29 months ago

        Don’t get me wrong, I hate that shit too. But I think it’s also important to note that it’s just obviously categorically less bad than using your phone while driving along at 60 km/h.

    • @[email protected]
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      19 months ago

      So i don’t think the setup here would work at traffic lights. The counter argument is that if you’re not moving when the light goes green you’re probably creating congestion in the network, when people get annoyed they become worst drivers and do stupid things like run reds (My personal most annoying traffic behaviour seen far too often in Canberra).

    • @some_designer_dude
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      19 months ago

      Maybe it should only start scanning 5 seconds before the light changes, so only people distracted when their time has come to move get fined.