{"id":3718,"date":"2019-09-23T06:59:45","date_gmt":"2019-09-23T06:59:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=3718"},"modified":"2019-09-23T06:59:45","modified_gmt":"2019-09-23T06:59:45","slug":"crackdown-on-drivers-using-mobile-phones-illegally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2019\/09\/23\/crackdown-on-drivers-using-mobile-phones-illegally\/","title":{"rendered":"CRACKDOWN ON DRIVERS USING MOBILE PHONES ILLEGALLY"},"content":{"rendered":"

The world\u2019s first mobile phone detection camera program will be rolled out in NSW by the end of the year.
\nMinister for Roads Andrew Constance and Minister for Regional Roads Paul Toole said the cameras will crack down on drivers illegally using their mobile phones.
\nDuring the Government\u2019s recent six month pilot, the safety technology provided by tech company Acusensus checked 8.5 million vehicles and found more than 100,000 drivers using their phones illegally.
\n\u201cUnfortunately some people haven\u2019t received the message and think they can continue to put the safety of themselves, their passengers and the community at risk without consequence,\u201d Mr Constance said.
\n\u201cThere is strong community support for more enforcement to stop illegal mobile phone use with 80 per cent of people we surveyed supporting use of the mobile phone detection cameras.\u201d
\nThe program will operate in warning letter mode for the first three months to reinforce the \u2018get your hand off it<\/em>\u2019 message. If you offend after that, you\u2019ll cop a $344 fine and five demerit points.
\n\u201cThe decision to pick up your phone can have fatal consequences. It doesn\u2019t matter whether you\u2019re driving on a busy city motorway or on an isolated road in the bush \u2013 there\u2019s just no excuse for using your phone illegally,\u201d Mr Toole said.
\n\u201cIndependent modelling has shown that these cameras could prevent around 100 fatal and serious injury crashes over five years.\u201d
\nManaging Director of Acusensus Alexander Jannink lost a friend in an accident caused by a distracted and impaired driver.
\n\u201cWe are committed to supporting the NSW Government’s pioneering initiative to reduce the significant loss and trauma caused by illegal phone use on the road network,\u201d Mr Jannink said.
\n\u201cWe know from the success of the pilot and other enforcement technology programs that the deployment of the Acusensus Heads-Up solution will drive behavioural change and improve the safety of road users.\u201d
\nRoad safety advocate Vicki Richardson founded the \u2018Don\u2019t-txt-n-drive\u2019 foundation to raise awareness of driver distraction after her daughter Brooke lost her life at age 20 in a crash caused by using her phone while driving.
\n\u201cBrooke was driving to work and she decided to text a client. That was the last decision she ever made. Working Towards Zero is very important to me,\u201d Ms Richardson said.
\nNSW Police Traffic and Highway Patrol Commander, Assistant Commissioner Michael Corboy, said more than 16,500 people had been caught using a mobile phone while driving so far this year.
\n\u201cWhen you drive while using a phone, your attention is not on the road, on other cars, pedestrians, or on other dangers and it poses a risk to everyone who uses the road,\u201d Mr Corboy said.
\n\u201cThere is simply no excuse for it.\u201d
\nThe mobile phone detection camera program will be supported by a comprehensive road safety campaign including online information and public education.
\nThe program will start later this year and progressively expand to perform 135 million vehicle checks annually by 2023.
\nThe program will include fixed cameras and relocatable trailer-mounted versions of the technology. The transportable cameras will move across a network of locations statewide, targeting illegal mobile phone use anywhere, anytime.
\nThe Privacy Commissioner has been involved in ongoing consultation during the pilot regarding the privacy protection measures incorporated into the program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The world\u2019s first mobile phone detection camera program will be rolled out in NSW by the end of the year. Minister for Roads Andrew Constance and Minister for Regional Roads Paul Toole said the cameras will crack down on drivers illegally using their mobile phones. During the Government\u2019s recent six month pilot, the safety technology … Continue reading “CRACKDOWN ON DRIVERS USING MOBILE PHONES ILLEGALLY”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3718\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}