An extraordinary number of Gold Coast drivers and their passengers are failing to buckle up, despite fines of more than $1000 for taking to the road without wearing a seatbelt.

Figures obtained by the Gold Coast Bulletin show 25,867 people were caught without seatbelts on the Gold Coast in the 12 months to October 31 – an average of 70 a day.

In contrast, just 21,025 were pinged for the offence in Brisbane.

A further 39,814 people on the Gold Coast were fined for using mobile phones while driving – an average of 109 a day.

The offences were detected and fines issued as a result of the roll-out of special cameras across the city in November last year.

Since July 1 both seatbelt and mobile phone offences have carried fines of $1078 and the loss of four demerit points. At those rates, the offences detected on the Gold Coast in the first 12 months of operation of the cameras would cost a whopping $70.8 million in penalties.

Mobile Phone and Seatbelt offences, 1 November 2021 to 31 October 2022

Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey made no apology for the number of costly fines issued, saying too many people were risking their lives on the roads.

“Each offender needs to ask themself what value they place on their life as using a mobile phone while driving or failing to wear a seatbelt or wear it correctly could easily end in tragedy – that’s the reality,” Mr Bailey said.

“Using a mobile phone while driving is as dangerous as driving with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.07-0.10.

“By law, you must not have your phone in your hand or resting on any part of your body, including your lap while driving, regardless of whether the phone is on or in use.”

While there are some fixed cameras in use to detect mobile phone and seatbelt offences – including at the M1 in Coomera – most are on mobile trailers.

Mr Bailey warned drivers the cameras could be located anywhere, while motorists risked losing their licences because double demerit points apply for second offences.

“Double demerit points apply for repeat offences within a 12 month period, so if you are caught doing the wrong thing multiple times, you could face losing your licence in addition to the steep fines,” Mr Bailey said.

“Learners and P-Platers will face losing their licence when they receive their first infringement for either of these offences.

“The message is simple. If you don’t want one of these fines, do the right thing on our roads.”

Last year in response to increased numbers of single vehicle accidents where drivers were killed in head-on collisions, roll-overs or cars hitting trees, doctors alleged these unusual accidents were caused by Covid-vaxxed drivers experiencing a medical event.

Minister Bailey cautiously agreed there was a probable connection to the rollout of mRNA vaxx which last year caused the highest road toll for a decade.

In spite of this anomaly the Main Roads Department and police have used the excess accidents as an excuse to roll out more cameras to generate more money allegedly to counter accidents.

Intelligent drivers realise the cameras can be used for facial recognition technology and are simply a source of extraordinary revenue which is another tax on an already suffering population.

The government claims this revenue goes back into road maintenance but there is no proof we have seen that this actually occurs.

How much longer decent citizens will take this police state affront is anybody’s guess. -from ABC and Cairns News contributors