Dubbo drivers who use their phones while behind the wheel could soon be snapped in the act with the world's first mobile phone detection camera program expected to be rolled out in NSW by the end of the year.
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Cameras will be set up across the state and they're expected to perform about 135 million vehicle checks annually by 2023.
For the first three months of the program drivers busted doing the wrong thing will get a warning letter but repeat offenders will cop a $344 fine and five demerit points.
The initiative was announced on Sunday after a six month trial saw cameras snap 8.5 million vehicles and bust about 100,000 drivers using their phones illegally while they were driving.
"The decision to pick up your phone can have fatal consequences," Regional Roads Minister Paul Toole said.
"It doesn't matter whether you're driving on a busy city motorway or on an isolated road in the bush - there's just no excuse for using your phone illegally," he said.
According to the government, independent modelling has shown the new cameras could prevent about 100 fatal and serious injury crashes over a five-year period.
"There 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," Roads Minister Andrew Constance said.
"Unfortunately some people haven't received the message and think they can continue to put the safety of themselves, their passengers and the community at risk without consequence," he said.
NSW 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 on the state's roads this year.
"When 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," Mr Corboy said.
"There is simply no excuse for it."
