If you are caught speeding, driving without a seat belt or running a red light QueenslandNow you are looking at a larger fine.
Harder penalties take effect from July 1, 2022.
After permanently turning on a phone-detection camera last year, which also scans cars for occupants without seat belts, the Queensland Government has more than doubled penalties for those in the seat was caught not wearing a seat belt before.
Instead of a $413 fine and three plus points, the violator will now be fined $1078 and four plus points.
That’s basically in line with a $1033 fine for using a mobile phone while driving in Queensland.
You’ll still get three demerit points for driving in red, but the fine has been increased from $413 to $575.
The government is also increasing fines for speeding.
According to a report from ABC News, will be fined $287 for exceeding the speed limit by 1-10km/h, though that would still be a minus. It’s currently $183 and racks up to 12km/h.
Similarly, going over the 11-20km/h limit (instead of 13-20km/h) will land you a $431 fine and three plus points, up from $275 and three plus points.
The other brackets are unchanged, as are the corresponding demerit points, but the penalties will increase as follows:
- 21-30km/h: increased from $459 to $646 (four pluses)
- 31-40km/h: increased from $643 to $1078 (six pluses)
- Over 40km/h: increased from $1286 to $1653 (eight honors points, six-month license suspension)
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A mobile phone detection camera in Victoria
In the first four months of seat belt detection cameras and new cell phones being put into operation, nearly 14,000 cases of seat belt violations were recorded.
Roads and Transport Minister Mark Bailey said: “We’ve been educating motorists about the importance of seat belts for 50 years, but somehow the message hasn’t gotten to the nearly 14,000 people, so it’s time to get tough.”
“We are not apologizing for being tough on this reckless and dangerous behavior, like we have done with criminals using cell phones.”
Queensland’s road death toll is now 81 by 2022.
The penalty changes are part of the new Queensland Road Safety Strategy 2022-31 released yesterday, with a vision of zero road deaths and serious injuries by 2050.
Before that, they wanted to reduce the number of fatalities by 50% by 2031 and the number of serious injuries on the road by 30% by 2031.
The strategy is implemented in three phases, with the first being the Queensland Road Safety Action Plan 2022-24.
The Queensland Government says “every penny” raised from fines will be reinvested in road safety, citing it has spent $1.7 billion so far this year on road safety upgrades. ministries, improve driver education and other initiatives to make school zones safer, and develop policies to reduce crashes and injuries on the road.
The first phase of the strategy includes plans to test Rural Crossroads-Activated Warning Signs, deploy “smarter solutions” to monitor driver fatigue, develop more camera technology to detect risky behavior and review existing speed limits.
The Government also wants to explore mandatory telecommunications technology for heavy vehicles and look at reducing the age of Queensland’s fleet, including a potential pilot of “targeted safe vehicle access programmes”. spending” for young, old and low-income people.
The current average vehicle age in Queensland is 10.4 years.
The first phase of the strategy also includes “using open data sources to target specific groups of road users”, otherwise known as “dob in a hoon”.
The government also plans to deploy more 24/7 mobile and fixed and mobile detection cameras, including in rural and regional areas.
Between November 1 and December 31, 2021, 20,500 breach notices were issued for these violations, a lion rate (14,800) for cell phone use motion.
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