New WA road safety cameras capture about 130,000 instances of illegal driver behaviour
The state government has deployed more than 100 mobile trailers in Perth, featuring mobile safety cameras that point down inside cars, since January.
Nine have been deployed in regional towns in the Great Southern region since June 10, while two are fixed on the Kwinana Freeway.
In that time, about 130,000 offences have been captured by the cameras and the range and extent of illegal activity behind the wheel has been "mind-boggling", according to Police Minister Reece Whitby.
"We're seeing people doing the wrong thing again and again," Mr Whitby told a budget estimates hearing in parliament.
"There's a new series of pictures that are just mind boggling in what they show.
The series of images the minister is referring to include drivers operating a vehicle with an infant, dog or device on their lap.
Others appear to show people using alcohol and drugs behind the weheel.
More than 50,000 people were either not wearing a seatbelt or wearing it incorrectly.
About 75,000 drivers were caught with their phone in their hand, or using it in another illegal way.
The WA government claims the cameras, which use AI detection technology, are the most advanced in the country.
The cameras are currently in the trial phase — at this stage caution notices are issued and fines are due to be implemented in October.
"This is not about revenue raising but we need to have a transition which gets it right," Mr Whitby said.
One of the major issues assessed by the use of the cameras is the repetitive nature of the offending.
At its worst, one driver was caught offending 81 times.
Another has been caught 74 times and there are a group of ten people that have been detected offending more than 42 times.
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