A driver successfully overturned a $410 fine and 10 demerit points after he challenged a mobile phone detection camera picture.
The unnamed man was driving from Mittagong to Sydney along the Hume Highway in NSW when a roadside camera captured him holding something in his hand on April 28.
After receiving an infringement notice, he issued an appeal to Revenue NSW, arguing that he could not be sure what the item was.
‘I got that fine and told them that may not be my phone, it looks like an empty case,” he told Yahoo News.
‘It could be my keys, my work diary, my battery pack or my empty phone case.’
He asked: ‘If I’m not sure how can they be?’
The driver claimed that the fine was revoked.
Revenue NSW said they did not comment on individual cases.
The unnamed man was driving from Mittagong to Sydney along the Hume Highway in NSW when a roadside camera captured him holding something in his hand on April 28 (pictured)
After receiving an infringement notice, he issued an appeal to Revenue NSW, arguing that he could not be sure what the item was (pictured)
The driver said he was ‘never worried’ about losing the case.
‘(I) would take that to court and still want to know why I can wear a watch that makes calls, and can send and receive texts, but a phone that is easier to see can take your licence off you by touching it,’ he added.
In NSW there were 191 casualties between 2012-2019 involving a driver or rider using a handheld mobile phone, according to data collected by Finder.
The state’s camera enforcement program typically issues up to 15,000 fines a month, bringing in more than $6million in revenue each month, according to the NSW state government data.
Overhead mobile phone detection cameras are widely used across Australia.
Queensland, Victoria and NSW have recently upgraded the cameras’ capabilities to also detect those not wearing seatbelts.
The ACT is intending to widen the scope of the equipment even further in the next few years to enable them to read number plates and automatically check if cars are registered and insured.
