The $1,000 phone call: Drivers to be slapped with record fines for using their mobiles behind the wheel
- Drivers who are caught using their phones while driving could cop a $1000 fine
- Reform comes after more than 40 people died on QLD roads in two months
- The fine is currently $400 for anyone caught using their phone while driving
- Queensland Government looking to introduce new penalty before Christmas
The fine for using mobile phones behind the wheel is set to increase in an effort to once and for all deter motorists from using them.
Drivers caught using their device while driving could cop a whopping $1000 fine on the spot on Queensland roads.
The state’s transport Minister Mark Bailey is pushing for the hefty fine after more than 40 deaths on Queensland roads in the space of two months.
Drivers who are caught using their phones while driving could cop a whopping $1000 fine on the spot on Queensland roads (stock)
The fine is currently $400 for anyone caught using their mobile phone behind the wheel.
The Minister is also considering suspending licenses of those caught a second time.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk supports the increase, saying something needs to be done to tackle the issue.
‘Too many Queenslanders continue to die needlessly on our roads from senseless distraction,’ she told The Courier Mail.
‘Looking at your phone while driving or sending a quick text behind the wheel is something sadly the majority of drivers will own up to having done.’
The government is also looking at the technology currently being trialled in NSW where cameras catch drivers on their phones.
The fine is currently $400 for anyone caught using their mobile phone behind the wheel (stock)
Mr Bailey said that there is proof these crackdowns and reforms work which saw a dramatic reduction in road crashed back in the 1970s.
‘While some complained at the time, these reforms saved thousands of lives, with the road toll falling from 638 in 1973 to 245 last year,’ he told the publication.
The $1000 fine is triple the $337 penalty, and more than double the $484 fine in Victoria.
Motorists caught using their phones in the Northern Terriroty are fined $250, while in the ACT the fine is $557.
The Government is looking to introduce the new penalty before the Christmas period where fatal road crashes increase.