Fleurieu and KI drivers heading to the city should be aware that testing is underway on the state’s first mobile phone detection cameras installed at key corridors in a bid to reduce dangerous distraction behind the wheel. 

Overhead cameras at four busy locations across Adelaide have been set up, targeting drivers who use their mobile phones and put themselves and other road users at risk.

Sites now testing include South Road, at Torrensville, with SA Police detecting one in 84 drivers using their mobile phones – at an average of 177 incidents per day – during a single-lane trial of the new technology last year.

Dan Cregan MP is the newly appointed  Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services.

“If you swipe, tap or text behind the wheel, you are putting yourself, your passengers and the community at risk,” he says. 

“Testing these cameras gives plenty of notice for every driver to consider their behaviour and, if required, to change it.

“The trial conducted last year highlights just how many wrongly think it’s acceptable to use their phones, when the tragedies on our roads continue to show the devastating results.”

Between 1 April and 28 April 2023, a total of 4,955 incidents were detected from 415,805 passing vehicles – equating to an offence rate of 1.19 per cent.

The cameras, part of a $15.9 million state government investment to curb road trauma and improve safety, aim to change this behaviour, which increases a driver’s crash risk by at least four times.

It says driver inattention, which includes phone use, is a contributing factor in around half of all lives lost and over a third of serious injuries.

Mobile phone detection cameras have been fitted on existing digital signage at:

• South Road, Torrensville.
• Southern Expressway, Darlington.
• North-South Motorway, Regency Park.
• Port Wakefield Road, Gepps Cross.

A fifth site, at Port Road in Hindmarsh, will go live for testing in coming weeks.

Last year 117 lives were lost on South Australian roads, while 856 people suffered serious injuries. Of the 27 lives lost in 2024, seven have been linked to distraction along with 123 serious injuries.

During the testing phase, vehicles will be photographed and validated by SA Police but no further action will be taken against drivers until 19 June, when a three-month grace period begins.

During this grace period, vehicle owners will be issued with a warning letter advising them that the driver of their vehicle has been detected by the camera.

From 19 September, SA Police will issue fines to vehicle owners or drivers, which are currently $540 (plus a $99 Victims of Crime levy) and three demerit points.

All funds raised from the fines will be returned to the Community Road Safety Fund, to deliver crucial initiatives across the state, including road safety improvements, education programs and hard-hitting public advertising.

Camera locations were selected based on research by Adelaide University’s Centre for Automotive Safety Research, considering crash trends and targeting busy road corridors across metropolitan Adelaide.

The cameras work by capturing high quality images from multiple angles through the driver’s windscreen, with artificial intelligence software identifying drivers on their mobile phones.

Photographs of drivers are then validated by SA Police, with images of those following the law deleted.

Officer in Charge Traffic Services Branch, Superintendent Darren Fielke, says as one of the Fatal Five causes of deaths on roads, South Australia Police welcomes the introduction of measures to deter people from using their mobile phones while driving. 

“Although distraction can be more than mobile phone use, so far this year it has been a suspected cause in 1511 collisions. 

“Our message to drivers is simple; leave your phone alone while driving. 

“Taking your eyes of the road, even for a split second, to read or respond to a message, slows down your reaction time and increases the chances of having a crash.”

Get Home Safe Foundation President Darren Davis says it can’t be simpler.

“It's illegal to use your phone when driving because it's dangerous. What is it that people don't understand?

I've met too many people whose lives have been devastated by inattentive drivers. All we want is for everyone to get home safe. Just do that one thing. The text can wait.”