It said this is the next step towards making mobile phone enforcement technology a reality on state roads by calling on potential providers to present practical, technology-based solutions to address the problem.

NSW Roads Minister Melinda Pavey said on Tuesday: “Developing this technology would be a world first and is one of the priorities of our Road Safety Plan 2021 that we announced.” 

“It’s worth remembering that at 60 kilometres per hour, a car travels 33 metres in two seconds,” Mrs Pavey said.

“Take your eyes off the road to look at your phone for a few seconds and you continue to travel, virtually blind.

There were 184 crashes that involved illegal use of a mobile phone from 2012 to 2017.

These crashes resulted in seven deaths and 105 injuries.

As part of the Road Safety Plan 2021, the NSW Government outlined its plans to implement legislative changes to allow camera technology to enforce mobile phone use offences.

Mrs Pavey said the Road Transport Legislation Amendment (Road Safety) Bill 2018 was introduced into the NSW Legislative Assembly on March 6018.

NSW is the first jurisdiction to introduce such legislation in Australia.

More than 40,000 people were fined by NSW Police for illegal mobile phone use in the 2016/17 financial year.

The technology will complement the NSW Government’s current approach to addressing illegal mobile use.

That includes education campaigns, a total mobile phone ban for all novice drivers (learner, P1 and P2 drivers) under the Graduated Licensing Scheme and police enforcement.

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