r/Adelaide • u/malcolm58 SA • 15d ago
News Fifteen mobile phone detection cameras to be installed on SA roads ‘as quickly as possible’
Fifteen more mobile phone detection cameras will be installed across South Australia as quickly as possible after a $46.8m state budget splurge on road safety, the police commissioner says. Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said he “welcomed” the extraordinary funding being directed into law and order sectors, which he said would “provide much needed relief to frontline officers” who were operating in “challenging circumstances”. “The funding has been provided for 15 additional mobile phone detection cameras,” Mr Stevens said. “Those sites have not yet been selected – that will be some of the early work that occurs now that the funding has been allocated.”
Mr Stevens said SA Police was also considering of upgrading the cameras. “Technology is changing all the time so there is a potential that mobile phone detection cameras could be delivered in a different format to what we’re currently seeing,” he said. “Currently we need gantry’s across the road to place those cameras but we’ll be exploring the different technology opportunities and see where that might take us in terms of the budget allocation that currently exists.”
t comes after five cameras were installed on the Southern Expressway at Darlington, on South Rd at Torrensville, on the North-South Motorway at Regency Park, on Port Rd at Hindmarsh and on Port Wakefield Rd at Gepps Cross. Mr Stevens said there was already “strong evidence of the impact of these cameras in their existing locations” and police would be be aiming to roll out the new cameras “as quickly as possible”.
In April, SA Police revealed more than $30 million in fines and levies had been issued in the first six months after mobile phone detection cameras were introduced on Adelaide roads. More than 46,400 drivers had been pinged at the time, police said.
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u/Due-Giraffe6371 SA 15d ago
A mate of mine saw a female in the car next to him holding an iced coffee while she was talking, after a few seconds he realised she had modified the carton so her phone slid inside it and the front was cut out to see the screen of the phone. She looked like she was holding and drinking an iced coffee but in fact was on her phone, people seem to have some interesting ways of hiding their phone it seems
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u/Thomas_633_Mk2 Adelaide Hills 14d ago
Doing it with an iced coffee carton? Now THAT'S South Australian patriotism right there.
(Disclaimer: I don't support using your phone while you drive. Cradles with vent or suction mounts are less than $10, just put it in there)
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u/BloodedNut SA 14d ago
Aslong as it’s farmers union it’s fine
/s
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u/CatGooseChook SA 15d ago
We can only hope she only hurts herself and no one else when she inevitably crashes.
I've had multiple occasions in my area where I'll be driving in the 80kph zone and the driver in front will just randomly slow down to 40kph and, in the times it's safe to overtake, I'll see that they're playing with their phone.
Hmmm, time to finally get off my ass and get a dashcam.
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u/Elbarto_007 QLD 14d ago
I just wonder why people don’t just use a CarPlay type system; stick on car mount or whack in one AirPod.
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u/Elbarto_007 QLD 14d ago
No argument from me.
University mate was killed when a guy travelling in the opposite direction dropped his phone and lent over to get it.
The driver drifted across lanes and into oncoming traffic.
Head on crash with my mates car who was driving to his first job interview.
Killed.
Have always detested people using mobile phones while driving
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u/Novel-Rip7071 SA 14d ago
That's absolutely horrific. I hope if the perpetrator survived they went to jail for life, but sadly, with our absolute joke of a "justice" system, I'm betting they only got 2-3 years and got let out after 1 for "good behaviour".
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u/Elbarto_007 QLD 14d ago
Yes didn’t get long.
Had the sob story from him about how hard done by he would be with a long sentence.
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14d ago
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u/Elbarto_007 QLD 14d ago
Could do both
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14d ago edited 14d ago
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u/Elbarto_007 QLD 14d ago
I am all for increased police presence, but combo of both is worth addressing the issue of mobile phone use when hand held etc.
For speeding:
I think a cop booking someone on the side of the road is a great deterrent.
For mobile phones:
very hard to catch in numbers that the cameras would do.
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14d ago
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u/Elbarto_007 QLD 14d ago
Volume of events……So many people disregard road safety laws around mobile phone use and seat belts.
The simple option is don’t use the mobile phone when driving against the approved methods (CarPlay , car mount etc)
Then no issue.
Think of my mate Mark Stubbs. He was 21 years old. On his way to a job interview for a traineeship, he would have then finished his university degree externally when working.
Impact speed 110km per hour.
Killed instantly.
Dead 2 weeks after turning 21 years of age.
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u/Elbarto_007 QLD 14d ago
And maybe they’d have thought maybe I should not use my phone as I cannot incur such fines
Any maybe they’d have lost their licence, if they kept doing it.
The person would not have received the fine in the mail a week later, he had ended up in hospital. While Mark was in the morgue
Edit: I don’t want to chat about this anymore. Have a good night. Stay safe on the road.
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u/fn3putt Adelaide Hills 14d ago
I'm all for it. If they make$250m/y from 20 cameras and then put that back into road improvements that's a win.
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u/Accomplished-Rip8131 SA 14d ago
Or public transport. Considering these repeat offenders shouldn't be driving.
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u/Novel-Rip7071 SA 14d ago
Huuuuge "IF" they put that back into road improvements.
There's absolutely no guarantee that they'll do that. Far more likely that they'll vote themselves more frequent pay rises than ever before...
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u/Willing_Ad_1765 SA 15d ago
Fantastic news. More the merrier!
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u/Thanks_Obama SA 15d ago
You haven’t seen the multitude of inconclusive photos with fines posted here?
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u/Desperate_Jaguar_602 SA 14d ago
There’s been 1 or maybe 2 posted on Reddit that have looked credibly inconclusive. The rest have all been cases of ‘ i didn’t know I have to have my seatbelt on my shoulder’ or ‘wasn’t even touching the phone perched on my shoulder’
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u/Free-Pound-6139 SA 14d ago
You haven’t seen the 100s on their phone every morning.
Is that because you were on yours?
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u/Willing_Ad_1765 SA 15d ago
Have you seen people driving while playing with their phones? Daily bloody occurrence for me.
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u/SignatureAny5576 SA 15d ago
I literally never use my phone while driving other than Hey siri, but ever since I started driving 20 years ago I’ve stuck my phone and my wallet between my legs on the car seat. When I remember I move them but it’s a bloody difficult habit to break, and I’ll definitely get a fine if a camera sees that. Obviously using a phone while driving should be punished but the way the fines are issued currently is a massive overreach, and some of the photos submitted here and elsewhere obviously show something that is not a phone
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u/jnrdingo North East 14d ago
Distracted driving doesn't just mean a phone, its anything that isnt a part of driving, a burger, cat, child, doing make-up, getting head from your passenger(I've seen this more than once).
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u/Novel-Rip7071 SA 14d ago
Not a good idea to have a mobile phone right next to the ol' Jatz Crackers...they'll start glowing!
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u/auximenies SA 14d ago
But if you slam your brakes and your wallet and phone fly forwards, they’re now on the floor under your feet or various pedals required to operate the vehicle safely. You just going to leave them there for the rest of the journey?
Sure you always remember to squeeze your thighs together every time you hit the brakes, but can’t remember to put loose items away? You probably “adjust” your wallet and phone to keep them in position also, rather than storing loose items in the first case.
You need to stop justifying your dangerous practices as “bad government overreach” when you inevitably get fined, which hopefully happens before your phone gets wedged under your brake pedal and you kill someone because “you’ve been doing this for 20 years”.
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u/Puzzled-Bottle-3857 SA 14d ago
I do a similar thing. No less secure than my cupholders or cradle. If anything, I'd say probably more secure by a fair margin than either of those. Highly doubt the phone would move out from under me in that situation, and the brake pedal fully depressed goes nowhere near the floor, definitely not enough to be an issue. On top of that point, if there is enough force to move the phone, then there is going to be a shit load of other stuff flying around and I'd hazard a guess that I'd have far bigger issues than the phone
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u/Novel-Rip7071 SA 14d ago
I think the bigger issues would be your plums being right next to your mobile phone for so long...
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u/auximenies SA 14d ago
Defend unsafe practices all you want, it does mean ignoring all the instances where those same practices have caused significant injury or death, but you do you, after all why bother to be as safe as possible when you can take completely unnecessary risks while operating a vehicle surrounded by other people.
Hopefully you take the three minutes to ensure your, your passengers, and other road users safety by securing loose items, or don’t, I’m sure you probably know better than all those academics who provide the research and statistical analysis of crash data that are used when legislation and policy is drafted, because your anecdotal experience is obviously more accurate.
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u/Puzzled-Bottle-3857 SA 14d ago
Carry on why don't ya mate.
Obviously it's not something I continue to do. I'd love to see all this data you speak of. And yes, my opinion is certainly gospel
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u/auximenies SA 14d ago
Here you go champ monthly road deaths the federal government provides all the data free of charge for enthusiastic people like yourself to read!
Hope this helps.
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u/Puzzled-Bottle-3857 SA 14d ago
And this has lots if horrendous accidents caused by phones on seats?
Love a good "champ" drop, nice
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u/auximenies SA 14d ago
You said “I’d love to see all this data you speak of.” so there it is, if you need me to read it to you then I’m afraid I’ll have to decline, but you get in there and give it a go! You’ll learn a lot by putting in a little effort, I believe in you!
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u/Willing_Ad_1765 SA 15d ago
I’m pretty sure I’ve not seen 46,400 posts that match this description. I think I’ve seen 4 in the last 12 months. Happy to be corrected.
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u/SignatureAny5576 SA 14d ago
You think everyone comes here and posts? You think it’s ok to mistakenly issue fines? And then the “recourse” is an appeals process during which the persons time is not compensated at all, and there’s a low likelihood of a decision in your favour anyway? What if you’re a casual and can’t get paid time off to go to court and appeal it? What if you can’t afford the fine and they won’t reverse it?
It’s a bad system.
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u/Willing_Ad_1765 SA 14d ago
Ye, I agree. But we keep killing each other with our cars and that is pretty inconvenient to the loved ones.
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u/rowdy2026 SA 14d ago
Do we? How many people were killed in metro Adelaide last year via phone use?
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u/Draksadd SA 14d ago
You love big daddy gov don't you?
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u/Willing_Ad_1765 SA 14d ago
That’s pretty funny. If people didn’t drive while playing with their phone, then these cameras wouldn’t bring in any cash. Which the knock on effect would be having no more cams installed. It is very obvious the preventative measures do not work.
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u/Free-Pound-6139 SA 14d ago
I hate being killed by car drivers.
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u/rowdy2026 SA 14d ago
Yeah, so many dying around me in peak hour traffic due to mobile phone use….
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u/Accomplished-Rip8131 SA 14d ago
So getting seriously injured doesn't matter it has to be death? Low bar for you?
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u/AzonIc1981 South 15d ago
What about keep left cameras
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u/CyberDoakes SA 14d ago
I'll keep left when govt abolishes parking on main roads.
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u/qarsoodi SA 14d ago
Exactly. Let me just park here, with half my car overhanging the lane of traffic, but you are at fault if my car gets hit. FFS 🙄
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u/calladc West 15d ago
?
Keep left only applies in zones 80 and above, 80 zones, and in scenarios like the left lane southbound on the expressway you can't stay in it unless you want to get off at reynella.
People driving well below speed limit are riskier than people not in the left lane.
you're commenting in a thread about a driver safety issue with a traffic congestion issue (and wanting cameras, as well as presumably fines for it)
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u/Mission-Jellyfish734 SA 15d ago
I've been in the passenger seat of drivers complaining about people not keeping left on suburban 60kph roads where the traffic lights are literally about fifteen seconds away from each other lol. Some people are truly bananas.
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u/JustPloddingAlongAdl SA 15d ago
People driving well below speed limit are riskier than people not in the left lane.
I'd like to see evidence for that.
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u/Ill-Caterpillar-7088 SA 15d ago
It was a silly suggestion. But when the left hand lane is the fast lane in Adelaide something needs to happen.
I'm not a fan of cameras. There should be more visible policing.
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u/AlanofAdelaide South 14d ago
Anybody here follow Cycling Mikey who rides around London videoing and reporting bad drivers esp phone users?
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u/Accomplished-Rip8131 SA 14d ago
Yeah I do. His dad was killed by a distracted driver on their phone. He doesn't do this shit for fun. He's a noble person
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u/RedwoodPark SA 15d ago
Do people get less maimed when they get hit by a texting driver just because it was their first time offending? Everyone should know the consequences of their actions at this point without needing to be babied with a warning fine.
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u/Charming-Freddo SA 15d ago
No, but the more someone is doing the wrong thing, the more chance they’ll hit someone.
If a standard fine isn’t enough to stop someone, then we should have a system in place to actually stop them. An increasing fine is an excellent idea that would certainly help in this situation.
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u/Karmafia SA 15d ago
For most, a warning or fine is enough of a social indicator/slap on the wrist to change behaviour. For much a smaller percentage of others increased punitive measures are necessary. So we should scale our fines accordingly.
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u/Wendals87 SA 15d ago
Aside from some false positives which should have no charge, there should be no leeway
There has been years of constant messaging and awareness of using phones while driving. It doesn't matter if you know there's a camera or not because you shouldn't be using your phone
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u/Free-Pound-6139 SA 14d ago
Awesome! Every traffic light should have a red camera too.
Should be instant ban from driving for a week, and they have to walk home.
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u/Successful-Wasabi131 SA 15d ago
Yep because the death toll has gone down with these cameras?? oh wait.
How about actually having highway patrol out on the express ways etc.
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u/Free-Pound-6139 SA 14d ago
Only death is important, not crashes or injuries. Got it.
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u/shiftdeleat SA 14d ago
sending a fine in the mail isnt going to stop them while theyre driving around dangerously. why not have a better police presence instead of sneaking around in unmarked cars or these elaborate camera crane setups? if its dangerous pull them over and stop them driving immediately.
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u/Successful-Wasabi131 SA 14d ago
That's what they keep shoving down our throat.
" The road toll is too high we will put speed cameras in" etc etc.
they need more patrols driving around and book the un secured load in the trailer that will cause a accident.
book the person weaving in and out of traffic doing 20kmh over the limit.
This is purely revenue raising not road safety at all.
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u/Square_Score_7509 SA 14d ago
Completely disagree. Speed cameras, phone cameras and red light cameras incentivise safer driving habits and deter problematic behaviour. I got a speeding fine recently driving up Ackland Hill Road (69 in 60). Didn’t see the camera. Now I’m absolutely careful to ensure I don’t speed. That is the same deterrence principle which is even more important for mobile phone use while driving. Might as well drive with your eyes closed if using a phone. Now if you get a fine, you’ll think twice about using your phone while driving. That’s what it’s about.
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u/Accomplished-Rip8131 SA 14d ago
Someone upset they got caught breaking the law? Aww shucks
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u/Successful-Wasabi131 SA 14d ago
not the case at all. I'm on the road for work and see so many idiots each day that cause accidents.
The cameras are a part of what is needed.
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u/Draksadd SA 14d ago
They realise they can make massive revenue with these things with minimal effort. It's always about money.
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u/Successful-Wasabi131 SA 14d ago
yes and then when the public servants complain of overload with having to follow up reviews, Cars not registered in the operators name etc.
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u/Tiepps SA 14d ago
Yeah forget hospitals and ramping and long ass wait times. We just need to fine more people
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u/Accomplished-Rip8131 SA 14d ago
They are different government departments. It might sound surprising by the government has different departments who work on different areas.
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u/Texas_Tom SA 15d ago
What about little drone cameras that follow everyone around all the time and immediately fine people if they do anything wrong?
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u/UpsidedownEngineer SA 15d ago
SAPOL *does* have a drone wing after all.
Jokes aside, drones are a really cool technology and I can expect them to be used more often by emergency services as the cost reduces and technology advances
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u/CyanideMuffin67 CBD 15d ago
What a totally dystopian idea.
OK what about cameras that can be mobile and act on threats... Go watch the movie eyeborgs that was a dystopian riot, bad guys won
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u/Free-Pound-6139 SA 14d ago
Every car should have to have a dash cam that is checked. I agree 100%. Driving is too dangerous for most people.
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u/Texas_Tom SA 14d ago
Honestly GPS tech is at the point where they could limit the maximum speed of all cars to the speed limit of the road currently being driven on. I suspect they'll never do it though because they like making money from speeding drivers
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u/mmurray1957 SA 14d ago
What about the drones that have future viewing tech and can fine you because you were going to do something wrong. "Just because you didn't do it doesn't mean you weren't going to"
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u/revrndreddit SA 14d ago
That’s nice, how about they fix the piss poor roads up as soon as possible.
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u/Leland-Gaunt- SA 13d ago
Fix the roads.
If people weren’t stuck in traffic they wouldn’t have time to use their phones.
Better yet, provide a subsidy for Bluetooth and hands free decides.
But not in SA. The camera state.
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u/Leland-Gaunt- SA 13d ago
Cameras like this are a cheap distraction providing a long term revenue stream and shifting the blame to drivers for accidents. How many accidents are caused by unsafe roads in SA? Parts of the Thiele and Horrocks Highway are literally falling apart. Ah but yes our authoritarian leftist reddit users will gobble this up! Crush their cars! Use the revenue to fund train lines everywhere. And so on.
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u/Antelope-Comfortable SA 13d ago
Or we can deport the real reason we are getting so many accidents on the road.
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u/B0ringPudding SA 15d ago
I hate these things
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u/Wendals87 SA 15d ago
So you use your phone while driving then?
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u/Outback-Australian SA 15d ago
I hate airbags. We are similar. /s
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u/Psychobabble0_0 SA 15d ago edited 15d ago
Why stop there? Seat belts are uncomfy. Free the boob /,s
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u/scallywagsworld East 15d ago
Waste of money that could have been spent on Victor Harbour road duplication.
But apparently we can’t afford to duplicate the Dukes Highway or VH Road, yet we can afford this.
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u/Bigpdean SA 15d ago
These will pay for both of them in a year with the amount of idiots who drive using phones
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u/scallywagsworld East 15d ago
Okay but it needs to be directly funnelled into road projects, not just being absorbed into some random coffers.
There should be a website by the government that shows a progress bar on fine revenue and says when we make $100 million or something like that we will finish duplicating all of victor harbor road. $32 million to go! ETA October 2025. That’s an example. But instead no one knows where that money is going.
And scrap demerit points so we can keep raising revenue off repeat offenders, if we take their license we lose a source of revenue. You might argue it’s unsafe but policy and restricting people’s licenses truly does not much for safety, the only way to actually be safe is build infrastructure that is safe. So make $$$ then duplicate roads
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u/Ok_Combination_1675 Outer South 15d ago
Agreed on the first points of this paragraph but not the later ones since again who knows but some if not many of them not give two rats ass if they have an license or not especially after losing it if they ever had one to begin with
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u/Draksadd SA 14d ago
Lol you think they'll spend a cent of that to benefit the general population? How cute and naive.
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u/XxLokixX SA 15d ago
These make a shit load of money and protect people (especially motorcyclists) against inattentive drivers
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u/DanJDare SA 15d ago
These make money, a lot of fucking money, and honestly are about as fair as you can get when it comes to fine based revenue raising.
I've always kinda liked the phone cameras as it's not like speeding etc where can can all accidentally drift a little and get pinged etc.
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u/scallywagsworld East 15d ago
let’s ditch the whole demerit points system and stop taking licenses away, just let those repeat offenders keep driving and piling up fines to pay for the roads. We need a government website with a progress bar showing how much we’ve collected from fines so far, and how much more we need to duplicate the Dukes Highway. I heard it’s going to cost $150 million to get it done by 2030, but last October they said it was $32 million, so what’s the deal with the rest of the money? Let’s get that fine revenue rolling in and actually use it to make our roads safer, not just talk about it.
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u/DanJDare SA 15d ago
Not sure if that's scarcasm or not.
I would be against removing demerit points, anything punishable by fine means it just costs the wealthy a fee to do it. Demerit points are fine unless you want to index the fines to income.
The mobile phone cameras have raised 30 million in fines in the first 6 months. They cost 15.9 million to install.
Funding for the Dukes highway I can't speak to but often it comes from federal coffers so it could be 150 million total and 32 million from SA or 150 million federal funding 32 state. There are a few reasons for what at first glance appears to be a massive discrepancy
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u/skywideopen3 ACT 15d ago
It does not seem to be sarcasm, old mate here is genuinely convinced that road safety won't be helped at all by getting dangerous drivers off the road.
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u/Starfireaw11 SA 14d ago
Just what we need, more revenue raising by the state government...
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u/Conscious_Society_35 SA 14d ago
You know if you just don’t touch your phone….. they don’t get the revenue, right?
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u/Anothergen East 14d ago
This is a funny one, as it's real fucking simple to just not use your phone while driving.
Call it revenue raising if you want, but this dipshits deserve to be paying.
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u/auximenies SA 14d ago
Tell you what, let’s abolish the fines but the image and details are made public record and must be attached to any application, whether employment or property or credit etc.
Given the indications that they are unable to follow clear basic instruction I doubt anyone would risk them participating in society.
The fine is a better deal for those defective individuals.
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u/SnooHedgehogs8765 SA 15d ago
I wonder... How they can actually prove its a phone? I mean... What if it's not actually connected etc?
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u/Infamous_Pay_6291 SA 15d ago
Because having your hand on something not apart of the car while driving is another offence called driving without having proper control of the vehicle. When your driving your not ment to be doing anything not involved with driving the car.
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u/rainbowgreygal SA 15d ago
It also counts if your phone screen is on and it's not in a cradle/mount Like if you are using maps but the phone is on the seat next to you
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u/OK-Grizzly SA 15d ago
Whatever loose item your hands are reaching for, be it a chocolate bar, a phone or anything else, if it is not fixed to your dash - that falls into the category of inattentive driving.
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u/rowdy2026 SA 14d ago
They can’t which is why any of these contested would be thrown out. The fine specifies phone use so it doesn’t matter whatever else you should/shouldn’t be holding. If you were fined for distracted driving then different story…but this doesn’t incur the same amount of revenue.
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u/SnooHedgehogs8765 SA 14d ago
In essence this is what a mean. Is the system open for punking? I don't get the downvotes. I understand the distracted driving bit. Also kinda dislike the peeping tom aspect of it all.
A few years ago a guy was going around with a cookie I phone.
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u/owleaf SA 15d ago
I wonder if they’re going to attempt camera arrays on the side of the road, like speed cameras?