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The fine arrives without warning and, for many drivers, without any genuine basis. Across Australia, new AI traffic cameras are identifying legitimate road offences every day, but they are also issuing penalties to people who did nothing wrong. Most of those drivers have no idea the fine can be challenged.

Key Takeaways

• AI cameras have been rolled out across Australia to detect mobile phone use, seatbelt breaches, and speeding. In Western Australia alone, over 31,000 drivers were fined in just one month of full enforcement.
• The technology makes genuine errors. Documented cases of drivers wrongly fined include people caught holding wallets, glasses cases, clear plastic phone covers, and other objects the cameras mistook for a mobile phone.
• Do not pay a fine you believe was issued incorrectly. Paying accepts the actual offence and removes your right to contest the matter in court.
• The challenge process has two stages: a formal review with the relevant state authority, and if that fails, electing to have the fine heard in the Local Court.
• Defences include honest and reasonable mistake, medical certificates for seatbelt exemptions, and the transfer of liability where a passenger was responsible for the breach.
• Anyone who believes they were fined incorrectly should speak to an experienced traffic lawyer before taking any action.

What Are AI Traffic Cameras?

Picture driving on the freeway, your mobile phone face down in the console, your seat belt fastened across your chest, and both hands on the wheel. Nothing about the drive stands out. 

Then, weeks later, an infringement notice arrives in the letterbox. It names an offence you did not commit, carries a fine of several hundred dollars, and includes a set of AI pictures taken by an AI safety camera that the system has decided shows poor driving. Receiving the notice is a big shock, but for a growing number of Australian drivers, it is becoming routine.

New AI traffic cameras have been deployed across Australia to detect mobile phone use, seatbelt breaches, and speed limit violations. The cameras capture high-resolution images of every passing vehicle. Specialised AI software then scans those images and flags potential offences. The software passes the AI safety camera pictures and any related video footage to a human reviewer. If the reviewer is satisfied that an offence occurred, a fine is issued to the registered driver.

In Western Australia, the state government had announced an eight-month grace period after the installation of the AI-powered cameras, during which no fines applied. However, over 380,000 breaches were detected. 

When enforcement started, the results were even more startling, with more than 31,000 drivers fined in just one month. Road Safety Minister Reece Whitby described what the cameras were capturing as “extraordinary and deeply concerning.” Police Commissioner Col Blanch warned that any driver caught during the first week of enforcement needed to seriously question their road behaviour.

What Do AI Cameras Detect?

The new AI-powered cameras operating across Australia’s metropolitan area freeways and regional roads are designed to detect several categories of poor behaviour in a single pass. These include:

• Mobile phone use, including holding, touching, or operating a phone while driving.
• Drivers and passengers who are not wearing a seatbelt, or who are not wearing a seatbelt properly. 
• Drivers who are exceeding the speed limit (detected by speed cameras integrated into the same units).
• Other conduct the cameras are trained to flag, including unrestrained children in front seat positions.

In Western Australia, a driver caught using a mobile phone faces a minimum fine and three demerit points. Seatbelt breaches carry a higher fine and four demerit points. Any fine issued during a holiday period attracts double demerit points. This means a provisional licence holder can lose their licence after just two or three incidents.

The cameras have captured some genuinely extraordinary behaviour. One truck driver was photographed travelling at 100 kilometres per hour with no hands on the wheel, no seat belt worn, and both a laptop and a mobile phone in use at the same time. Western Australia authorities released official material related to this case, demonstrating how effective the AI cameras are at detecting poor driving.   

Another detection showed a front seat passenger travelling completely unrestrained while holding an unrestrained baby. When AI traffic cameras pick up conduct like this, the technology is doing precisely what it was built to do. The issue, of course, is what happens when it gets it wrong.

Are AI Cameras Getting It Wrong?

As Australian drivers vent frustrations in ABC radio interviews and across social media, a familiar pattern of misidentification has emerged. In WA, the volume of complaints has grown large enough that the Road Safety Commission has formally ordered a review of the process.

One driver was fined when her young daughter slipped the shoulder strap of her seatbelt aside for a moment on the freeway, something the driver had no way of detecting while keeping her eyes on the road. 

A disability support worker received seven fines because her neurodivergent client repeatedly wore her seatbelt incorrectly during care trips. She faced losing her licence despite holding zero demerit points and more than twenty years of spotless driving. In another case, an 85-year-old passenger pulled her seat belt away from her body to speak to children in the back seat. Her son, who was driving the car, received the fine.

The problem extends beyond seatbelt cases. In the ACT, a growing number of drivers have come forward to share AI safety camera pictures showing no phones in their hands at all. One driver received a mobile phone infringement notice despite holding only a clear plastic phone case, with the actual mobile phone sitting visibly in the centre console. The cameras still flagged it as a phone offence. Another driver received a fine for an offence that the cameras had attributed to an entirely different vehicle. When the driver challenged it, Access Canberra withdrew the fine and cancelled the demerit points after two weeks.

The Strange Things AI Cameras Mistake for a Mobile Phone

AI cameras are trained to recognise the rectangular shape, size, and position of a mobile phone in a driver’s hand. In practice, many everyday objects share enough of those characteristics to fool the technology. Documented cases across Australia include drivers caught holding:

• Wallets and card holders
• Glasses cases and sunglasses
• Battery packs and portable chargers
• Clear plastic phone covers with no phone inside
• Food, drinks, and other in-car entertainment ideas that are handled at the wrong moment

These are small mistakes that carry large consequences. The bizarre reality is that a driver who reaches for their sunglasses on the same stretch of road, on the same day, may receive the same fine and the same demerit points as someone who was genuinely using a phone at the wheel. During a double demerit holiday period, the cost of that error is doubled.

How to Challenge an AI Traffic Camera Fine

If you believe the fine was issued incorrectly, here are the steps you can take to challenge the fine. Acting quickly is important. Time limits apply at every stage, and the most costly mistakes are those made in the first few days, including paying a fine before seeking legal advice.

Step 1: Do Not Pay

Paying the fine is an admission of the actual offence. In most Australian states, paying removes your ability to contest the matter in court. Leave the fine unpaid and keep the review process open. If financial hardship is a concern in the meantime, most states offer payment deferral options while a review is pending.

Step 2: View the Images

You are entitled to view the AI safety camera pictures associated with your fine. In New South Wales, images can be accessed through the Revenue NSW portal. In other states, contact your state transport authority directly. Examine the images with care. If the object in your hand is clearly not a mobile phone, or if the AI safety camera pictures show a seatbelt that was simply displaced for a moment rather than genuinely not worn, those images are the foundation of your challenge. Download or save them before taking any further steps.

Step 3: Request a Formal Review

In New South Wales, drivers can request a review of their fine under Section 24A of the Fines Act 1996 (NSW) through the Revenue NSW website. Once submitted, the review places the fine on hold while the matter is assessed. Revenue NSW will consider your circumstances, your driving history, and any evidence you provide. Drivers who have held a licence for more than ten years with a clean record may be eligible for a caution rather than a fine. In Western Australia, reviews are handled through the Department of Transport. In Victoria, the relevant body is Fines Victoria.

A standard review does not always go far enough. For example, if the AI has misidentified an everyday object as a mobile phone, the reviewing officer may simply uphold the fine rather than interrogate the technology’s accuracy. Where you have clear grounds to dispute what the camera captured, taking the matter to court can give your argument the proper hearing it deserves.

Step 4: Elect to Go to Court

If your review is denied or you wish to contest the fine more rigorously, you can elect to have the matter heard in the NSW Local Court. 

At a court hearing, the prosecution must prove the actual offence beyond a reasonable doubt, relying on the AI safety camera pictures and any supporting footage. A traffic lawyer can argue that the object shown is not a mobile phone, that the passenger’s seatbelt was correctly worn at the time, or that the evidence falls short of the standard required for a conviction. 

“To challenge an AI-based fine, the fine first needs to be elected to court without being paid. The case will then be set for a hearing, where the driver should have a traffic lawyer appear to present evidence and argue why the prosecution cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the images show a driving infringement. It can be a difficult case to make without expert legal representation, but these challenges are being won.” — Avinash Singh, Principal Lawyer, Astor Legal

Defences & Exemptions Available to Drivers

Not every AI camera fine is a foregone conclusion, and not every driver who receives one is without a defence. Depending on the nature of the offence, the state in which it was issued, and the specific circumstances of what the cameras captured, there may be legitimate grounds to have the fine withdrawn entirely.

Honest and Reasonable Mistake

In some cases, there are grounds to argue for an honest and reasonable mistake. Consider a driver who sets off with every passenger belted in, only for a child to quietly slip a shoulder strap aside mid-journey without a word. The driver has no reason to check and no way of knowing. 

In certain circumstances, a court may accept that a driver who was genuinely unaware of a breach did not commit a deliberate offence. The honest and reasonable mistake defence is not a universal shield, however, and whether it is available will depend on the specific facts and the state in which the fine was issued. A qualified traffic lawyer can assess whether it applies to your situation.

Seatbelt Exemptions and Medical Certificates

Under Rule 267 of the Australian Road Rules, a driver is exempt from wearing a seatbelt in certain circumstances. Accepted exemptions include cases where medical certificates from a treating doctor confirm that wearing one is unsafe due to a health condition. A taxi driver carrying a fare-paying passenger is also exempt, as is a driver in the process of reversing the car. 

As former police officer and MP Mark Folkard noted publicly, there are only three accepted grounds for not wearing a seatbelt: reversing, being a taxi driver, or holding a qualifying medical exemption. These are narrow grounds, but where they do apply, they are a strong answer to the fine.

Passenger Liability Transfer

Where AI cameras have caught a passenger not wearing a seatbelt and the fine has been directed to the driver, there may be grounds in certain circumstances to seek a transfer of liability to the passenger. The WA Road Safety Commission has signalled it is reviewing whether infringements can be shifted from drivers to passengers who were responsible for the breach. Until any legislative change occurs, the driver bears primary responsibility, but a lawyer can advise on what arguments are available on a case-by-case basis.

Challenging the Accuracy of the Images

The AI safety camera pictures attached to your fine are not neutral documents. They are the output of a system that was designed to flag potential offences, and they carry the same potential for error as the technology that produced them. Challenging what those images actually show, and whether they have been interpreted correctly, is one of the most direct and legitimate lines of defence available to a driver.

At court, the prosecution bears the burden of proving the offence beyond a reasonable doubt. A well-prepared traffic lawyer can challenge whether the images are of sufficient quality to discharge that burden, question the methodology used by the AI system to reach its conclusion, and argue that the visual evidence is ambiguous or open to interpretation. An image that leaves room for genuine doubt is not proof of an offence, and courts have accepted that position.

Speak to an Expert Traffic Lawyer Today

Being wrongly fined by an AI camera is not an uncommon problem. It is happening to thousands of drivers across Australia, and many of them are paying fines they should never have received simply because they do not realise the fine can be challenged. 

Whether the cameras have misidentified an everyday object as a phone, penalised you for a lack of a seatbelt when one was being properly worn, or issued a fine for an infringement that bears no resemblance to what actually occurred, there are options available to you.

At Astor Legal, our experienced traffic lawyers regularly appear in the NSW Local Court to represent clients charged with traffic offences. We also handle licence appeals and police suspension appeals for drivers who are at risk of losing their licence. 

Our Principal Lawyer, Avinash Singh, is a Law Society Accredited Specialist in criminal law and has been sought out by national media as an expert voice on AI traffic camera accuracy and driver rights, with commentary featured across Carsales, Yahoo News Australia, and the Seniors Discount Club. 

Our firm has been recognised with multiple national legal awards, including Criminal Law Firm of the Year and Most Trusted Criminal Law Firm in Sydney. Over 150 independent five-star reviews reflect the exceptional outcomes we achieve for our clients.

Contact us today for a free initial consultation. Call (02) 7804 2823, email info@astorlegal.com.au, or submit an enquiry online. The sooner you act, the more options you have.