An outraged motorist has claimed he was slugged with a $410 fine after his passenger was falsely accused of not wearing their seatbelt properly.
The driver received a fine from Transport for NSW explaining that a detection camera had captured his passenger incorrectly wearing their seatbelt.
But the man insists the photos are of awful quality and don’t prove the offence.
‘My friend was wearing a seatbelt,’ he told Yahoo.
‘I still got a penalty notice though. I appealed and it was rejected.’
The photos from the camera appear grainy making it difficult to tell if the passenger is wearing his seatbelt correctly over his shoulder or some other way.
The driver said he had opted to pay the fine, because fighting it wasn’t worth potentially jeopardising his visa or citizenship applications.
Transport for NSW said artificial intelligence is first used to assess the images before they pass through ‘several stages of human review’.
The man insists the photos taken by the cameras are of terrible quality and don’t prove the offence.
NSW introduced the new roadside cameras earlier this year. In the first three weeks of operation they had issued nearly 11,500 fines.
The cameras are designed to detect drivers using their phones, wearing their seatbelts incorrectly, or not using their seatbelts at all.
Drivers are responsible for ensuring their passengers wear their seatbelts properly – if not, they can be slapped with a $410 fine and three demerit points.
They can review the images of their alleged offence online and can seek a review by Revenue NSW, or take the matter to court.
The driver is not the first to complain about exorbitant fines doled out to people caught incorrectly wearing their seatbelt.
NSW woman Alice Brennan said she was slugged with a $410 fine after she was caught making the minor mistake while a passenger in a car.
‘JUST GOT FINED $410 FOR TEMPORARILY WEARING MY SEATBELT LIKE THIS. Surely that’s not right?’ Ms Brennan wrote on LinkedIn.
A photo showed Ms Brennan sitting in the front with her seatbelt diagonally across her stomach, instead of in the standard position over the shoulder.
Social media users sympathised with Ms Brennan and slammed the fine.
‘That’s completely ridiculous! Appeal if you can!’ another wrote.
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