Unrestrained babies being held and fed in the front seat are among some of the dangerous seatbelt offences being detected by road cameras on NSW roads.
The state government today said three-quarters of the 11,400 penalties issued to motorists in the first 21 days of camera enforcement were related to improper use of a seatbelt.
The offence attracts a $410 fine and the loss of three demerit points.
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The mobile phone detection camera network began capturing seatbelt offences on July 1.
Non-compliance was two-and-a-half times higher than expected, with the technology picking up more offences in three weeks than the total number of fines issued by police in 2023.
Out of the 8.3 million vehicles checked on NSW roads, about one in every 700 of those have been issued a fine.
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Pictures taken by the camera network have revealed examples of unsafe incidents, such as babies being held and fed in the front seat unrestrained, multiple children sharing the front seat without seatbelts, as well as a variety of ways in which a seatbelt was worn incorrectly.
Roads Minister John Graham said the figures should serve as a wake-up call.
“The vast majority of the 6.9 million drivers on NSW roads wear a seatbelt every time,” he said.
“But the sad fact is that the small percentage of those who do not are twice as likely to die in a crash and are needlessly making up 15 per cent of all fatalities on our roads.
“We have a rising road toll in NSW and the straightforward act of putting a seatbelt on could save dozens of lives a year.”
Regional Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison said she was shocked by the number of offences detected in such a short period of time.
“Five decades since it became law, there are still too many people putting their lives and the lives of their loved ones at risk because they won’t wear a seatbelt,” Aitchison said.
“Whether you’re in the bush or a big city, on a quiet country road or a major motorway, there is never any excuse not to put on a seatbelt. Many of us grew up being told to ‘click clack front and back’ it’s a message we’re repeating in the wake of these frightening issues.
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“I also urge everyone to wear their seatbelts properly because we know from tests conducted by the Centre for Road Safety that the impact of wearing a seatbelt under your arm in a crash at 60km/h can cause injuries to the liver, spleen or abdomen which could prove fatal.”
The introduction of seatbelt camera enforcement was part of a string of measures launched by the state government to crack down on road safety.
They include a demerit reward program for drivers who maintain a spotless driving record for 12 months or more, the removal of a loophole to force all motorists with a foreign licence to convert to a NSW licence within six months, and the addition of 2700 new locations where a mobile or seatbelt camera can be deployed.
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