NSW Traffic Fines Are More About Revenue than Road Safety

The sharp increase in fines for traffic offences facilitated by new technologies such as seatbelt detection cameras and vastly improved mobile phone detection cameras has been an enormous win for the New South Wales government.

But many believe the augmentation of government coffers at the expense of Australians who are already suffering through a cost-of-living crisis is unjustified, as it appears to have had little if any positive effect in terms of reducing road casualties.

Sharp spike in revenue from traffic fines

New South Wales recently introduced new camera technology, including advanced overhead cameras, to capture images of drivers and passengers wearing — or not wearing — their seatbelt correctly. For drivers or passengers who incorrectly wear their seatbelt, such as having the belt not across the shoulders, they can expect a fine of $387 and three demerit points. 

At the time, the state government claimed this was a response to 15% of deaths on the roads attributed to not using seat belts correctly or not using them at all, with vastly improved mobile phone detection cameras – said to be capable of detecting phone use up to 1.5 kilometres away – being rolled out in seemingly every nook and cranny across the state.

But is this really about road safety or revenue raising?

Authorities have issued almost $35 million in fines over the past six months for not wearing seatbelts, or not wearing them properly – and this is just part of the hundreds of millions being raked in each year for camera detected traffic offences; all of which have been sharply rising.

Multiple people have reported issues with the photo ‘proof’ of the traffic fines, opting to lodge disputes with Revenue NSW regarding the fine. However, the outcome of the dispute shows that the government is truly out only to pay back its debts, as—even with justifiable proof—many drivers and passengers are unfairly slapped with high-fees even when they are innocent. This process of disputing fines often leads to further frustration and financial strain for the residents. 

Traffic and seat belt fines have increased due to camera technology and stringent laws for correctly wearing a seatbelt that have “tightened” in recent years. According to the Official Transport for NSW, a seat belt must be worn across the hips, chest, and mid-shoulder—so, even if the seat belt slips for a second during a car ride, the person is liable to receive a fine. 

Revenue for NSW and the Official Transport for NSW spokespeople justify their overly strict seat belt laws by stating the number of traffic-related deaths in 2024 related to seatbelt misuse. However, the camera technology might be too harsh, with almost 75% of traffic fines relating to improper seatbelt wearing.

Negligible effect on road safety 

Despite the introduction of new technology designed to make roads safer, the updated cameras and motion speed sensors have actually done little to positively affect road safety. 

Studies have shown that the number of road deaths in New South Wales has remained virtually the same from 2019 to 2023, with the total coming to 350 per year in 2019 and 334 per year in 2023. Furthermore, statistics from NSW Transport show that there were 340 fatalities on NSW roads until 31 December 2024, which was the same as the previous year — with crashes in the North and West regions of Sydney actually increasing in 2024. 

Thus, there is little, if any, positive correlation between increased fines, new technologies, and proliferation of existing technologies and road safety. 

Fines and Fees Have Only Led to Unpaid Debt — Not a Reduction in Road Danger

According to the dataset by Revenue NSW, the number of parking fines, traffic fines, seatbelt-related offences, and mobile phone usage offences has significantly increased. 

In the 2021-2022 financial year, parking offences totalled just over $177 million, increasing to almost $240 million the following year. So far in the 2024-2025 financial year, $172 million worth of parking fines have been issued.

The number of seat belt offences in the 2023-2024 financial year totalled $3.7 million — in the 2024-2025 year, the number has astronomically skyrocketed to over $40 million.

The extreme surge in traffic-related fines doesn’t shed light on a country whose driving is worsening by the year, but instead underscores the government’s greed.

NSW is burdened with increasingly high fees that are nearly impossible for someone on a living wage to pay off in due time. Only a small part of the debt is written off, perpetuating a continuous cycle of outstanding dues in the state’s economy. This pattern underscores the urgent and compelling need for reform. 

To justify the high fines and payment system, Revenue NSW tried to explain away the millions of dollars in debt by saying that COVID-19 fines were improperly instated. Most residents refused to pay for an infringement they did not actually commit. Not only did the government try to shirk the blame, but they have since doubled-down on driving penalties, demerits, and fines. 

Parking Fines Skyrocketed in 2024

After the initial surge of fines in 2022, the dramatic increase of parking fines within NSW in 2024 continued to spread shock and disbelief among the state. Local councils began issuing parking fines at record-breaking rates starting in 2024 without first giving car owners notifications or ‘warnings’. 

This led to drivers being issued multiple fines for the same infraction, compounding already high fees. In the 2024 financial year, more than 820,000 fines were issued, a staggering increase of almost 300,000 from the previous year. 

Data shows a 49% increase in parking fines in the 2023/2024 year compared to the previous year and a 54% increase in the number of ticketless parking fines—giving drivers no chance at all to remedy the issue before paying hundreds, or thousands, of dollars in tickets. 

Traffic fines are the major culprit

Possibly in retaliation to the billions of dollars ‘owed’ to the government, NSW made it a mission to repay their debts somehow—apparently by raking in millions of dollars in traffic fines between the end of 2024 and the first couple of months of 2025. Instead of finding other ways to write off the debt, they decided to reinforce their initial sentiments and keep the high traffic fines.

Are the fines unfair for the ‘breaches’ in safety?

Speeding by 12 kilometres/hour in New South Wales is equivalent to a $361 fine as well as demerit points, regardless of income—meaning that these hundreds of dollars are extremely high for those making a liveable wage. Thus, those in the middle class or a low-income household will have to decide between paying a fine and spending their hard-earned money on necessities like bills, food, and transport. 

If a family or individual cannot pay the fine, this leads to a cycle of unpaid debts, higher fees, and stricter punishment. The extremely high initial fee for the traffic fine sets up NSW residents for failure. Instead of using a proportional traffic system based on the driver’s income, the flat-rate fee is simply and unequivocally unjust for the majority of the population.