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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-10-20 Daily Xml
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Bills

Statutes Amendment (Use of Devices in Vehicles) Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 27 September 2022.)

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (11:45): I will take this opportunity to indicate that the opposition will be supporting the passage of the bill, following on as it does the work done in relation to the application of this technology to what is already a longstanding range of fixed and mobile cameras in place, with a view to promoting road safety.

The SPEAKER: Member for Heysen, are you the lead speaker for the opposition?

Mr TEAGUE: No, I am not. There may be some questions in committee about just exactly how far the technology has come—I understand that the shadow minister, my colleague the member for Chaffey, has commenced inquiries, and I look forward to the response from the government, perhaps in committee—including, as the community of South Australia becomes familiar with this new process in due course, whether it has the capacity to monitor moving vehicles or whether it might be limited to vehicles that are stationary at lights that have existing cameras attached, and so on.

What we know very clearly—and this has been at the centre of road safety campaigns for a considerable period of time, as long as I can remember—is that while one always drives to the conditions, the conditions of light or darkness, rain or otherwise, which have particular impact on road safety, as does the condition of the road, of course, what also impacts very significantly on incidents on the road are matters that are within a driver's control.

These include, perhaps chiefly amongst them, speed, and, secondly, the controlling of a vehicle (this goes for vehicles whether or not they are on the road) while under the influence of substances such as drugs or alcohol. We have no tolerance for contravening rules in that regard. Of course, also included is driving while applying anything less than one's complete attention to the road and the task at hand, because we know that driving while distracted contributes significantly to serious incidents on the road. It is one of those avoidable factors that is within the control of the driver of a motor vehicle.

It is not talked about quite so much, but I know certainly when the RAA is delivering its tremendously well put together and really quite confronting sessions to school students, those in senior years who are driving in their first couple of years, the emphasis that the RAA, together with SAPOL, will add to that distraction point is the impact of the distraction of the driver by those passengers in the car who might be using a device or otherwise distracted.

There are numerous sources of distraction or impairment to a driver within the car. Those are matters that are almost wholly within the control of the driver. We know that preventing those distractions from occurring and educating and, to the extent that is necessary, including in that suite of measures enforcement measurements, will have a positive effect on the outcomes on our roads and will have a positive effect on improving road safety on our roads in South Australia.

The rules against the use of mobile devices contrary to regulation have been there, and for good reason, for quite some time. Until now, it has been possible to police that by direct observation of a police officer. I do not know, perhaps again this might be the subject of a compare and contrast in committee or in the course of debate, but it may be anecdotally observed that until now those direct observations have perhaps happened most conveniently and most often by a police officer observing the user of a mobile device at a point when the vehicles are stationary and enforcement has been able to occur.

We know that there are very significant fines already associated with that form of distraction. What we will now see is the capacity for those electronic devices to observe with sufficient clarity that distraction such that they can then be enforced by those means. Again, I am interested in not only how well that technology functions but perhaps also the safety impacts for police officers who might otherwise be having to do something that is more physically interventionist in order to apply the enforcement measure or to engage with the driver of a vehicle who has been observed distracted in that way.

One thing we know is that we are surrounded by constant and sometimes it seems ever more quickly accelerating developments in technology, and that applies in our daily lives in all sorts of respects. The use of technology in the enforcement of our rules and in the interests of improving road safety is no exception. Where the technology exists in such a way that can be applied with certainty and therefore be able to be legislated, in my view it ought to be and South Australians ought to have the opportunity to observe the way in which it impacts improvement to road safety. I look forward to hearing more about how that may be measured and how we may continually promote confidence in the use of these devices in the community.

The last thing we want, and it is ever present, is for there to be a sense in which measures are applied with a view to improving the government's budgetary position, improving the bottom line, without a demonstrated improvement to road safety that is attendant upon it. So it is important that there is an ongoing engagement with the community about both the capacity of the technology to do this in a way hopefully improving on the way in which it has been able to be done in the past—that is, less interventionist, more certain and reliably understood—and that in turn we are seeing a change of culture departing from any form of tolerance in society of that kind of distraction and improvements in road safety outcomes that follow.

When South Australians can see that they are experiencing improvement, that will promote confidence, that will promote change of behaviour, and I hope that will in turn mean that this form of enforcement technology quickly will become, if not redundant, unnecessary and we will not see it detecting drivers distracted because it will have contributed to changing that culture. We know that it is not only the RAA, SAPOL and those of us here endeavouring to augur towards improved road safety.

We know that car manufacturers and those in the automotive industry have long been aware of this themselves. We see it in the road safety features that are incorporated into new motor vehicles these days, conscious of that prevalence of drivers finding themselves drawn into the use of mobile devices in particular and being distracted as a result, aided by the technology that is applied in the motor vehicle to avoid what otherwise might be an incident involving damage and injury.

We ought to all work together to use technology, and that is something that is applied with a view directly to reducing risks to drivers, pedestrians, and so on, in vehicles, but it also extends to its application in this enforcement space. Having foreshadowed those particular subjects of inquiry that might be further elucidated later in the debate and in committee, I lend my voice to commending this bill and look forward to the continuation of the debate.

Mrs PEARCE (King) (11:58): Loss of life and serious inquiry on our roads are absolutely devastating for family, friends and communities alike, and what makes it harder is that often they could have been preventable. To do better in this space we must work together, both governments and the community, to do what we can to deter behaviours that lead to both death and serious injury on our roads, particularly when it comes to the fatal five, those being seatbelts, speeding, drinking and/or drug driving, dangerous road users and, of course, distraction.

That is why I rise today to speak about this important bill, the Statutes Amendment (Use of Devices in Vehicles) Bill—because it seeks to improve road safety by addressing one of the fatal five, driver distraction.

Too many accidents happen on our roads. This year alone, up to 12 October, we had 56 fatal crashes resulting in 57 fatalities on our roads, and we have seen 484 serious injury crashes that have resulted in 552 serious injuries. Driver distraction, including mobile phones, is one of the main causes of road crashes in our state; in fact, I understand that it may be the leading cause of fatal and serious injury crashes on our roads.

Between 2017 and 2021, inattention was a contributing factor in 51 per cent of fatal crashes and 34 per cent of serious injury crashes. These percentages represent 247 deaths on our roads—247 individual lives lost, leaving a profound impact and hurt on the lives of the families and the communities that have been left behind, not to mention the impact that this would have on first responders and support services personnel who attend the scenes. It has also meant 1,330 serious injuries that, no doubt, would similarly impact families, friends and the broader community, in addition to the impact on the individual.

The passing of this bill will see the introduction of mobile phone detection cameras here in South Australia, following the success of their introduction in other states around Australia. In fact, I understand that independent modelling by Monash University Accident Research Centre estimated that the New South Wales program would contribute to a reduction in road trauma of approximately 100 fatal and serious injury crashes over a five-year period. That is a figure to take quite seriously, which is why I am pleased to see that this initiative is being considered here as another step in our efforts to improve safety on our roads around this state.

Mr Speaker, did you know that the use of a mobile phone in a vehicle is estimated to increase the risk of crashing by at least four times and that the most common crashes associated with the use of a mobile phone while driving are caused by being run off the road and rear-ended? As someone who drives to Pirie quite regularly to visit family and friends, and having a husband who travels all across our great state for work, there is nothing that concerns me more than the fear of either one of us being run off the road due to another vehicle driving recklessly.

A driver not paying attention, distracted by their phone, is not fully present to drive, is not alert to the surroundings or even physically distracted holding a phone and is not ready for the conditions of the road, which can change quickly, requiring one's full attention. Without their full attention, they will be slower to react, brake later, have less control of the vehicle and may even swerve out of their lane. The impact of those actions cannot be unwound once they occur.

Mobile phone detection will work in conjunction with already existing enforcement measures, in addition to the other road safety measures which have been introduced by the Malinauskas Labor government, laws such as the new antihoon laws seeing motorists guilty of extreme speeding offences facing three years of imprisonment, which I am glad to share has been received well in my community.

The use of mobile phone detection cameras will target distraction in an effort to make sure that drivers on our roads are paying attention. It is important to note that this introduction will see a three months' grace and education period and is expected to be in operation from late 2023.

I anticipate there may be people who have an interest in where the funds will go. I am pleased to share that funds generated as a result of detecting drivers using mobile devices will be directed back to the Community Road Safety Fund, which is used to invest back into road safety for our community, funding initiatives such as the State Black Spot program, road safety research, the Way2Go school safety program, and road safety infrastructure. These are programs that are already in effect in my local community and doing great work to help improve road safety in our area.

I would like to thank the Minister for Police and road safety for his hard work and efforts to help improve safety on our roads, which ultimately will help to reduce deaths and serious injuries. With that, I commend this bill to the house.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (12:03): I indicate that I am the lead speaker on the Statutes Amendment (Use of Devices in Vehicles) Bill 2022, a bill to amend the Motor Vehicles Act 1959 and the Road Traffic Act 1961. As the contributors to this debate have already stated, a lot of the preparatory work on this bill was done by the former Liberal government. It is a bill that I think is taking another step to acknowledge that we need to do better on our roads. We need to understand the vagaries around some of the distractions drivers face and the positions they put themselves in, particularly with the use of devices whilst in control of or while operating a motor vehicle.

I think the stats have been pretty well laid out, that one of the biggest killers on our roads is distraction while driving. It has been noted that distracted drivers have taken about 247 people's lives over the past five years. That is a crime in itself. That statistic is a reality, and it is a reality that I think every person who is operating a motor vehicle while trying to use a device should understand—the vagaries and vulnerabilities that they put themselves in.

As legislators, we will enact laws to help keep the road toll down. Obviously, keeping our road toll to zero is the ultimate aim but, in reality, we have to do everything we can in small steps to keep reducing that road toll. In 2022 alone, 1,332 serious injuries and 17 deaths were attributed to drivers who were distracted while operating a motor vehicle.

The alarming number for me is that this is just a senseless revenue stream coming to government, where we have seen 30,000 expiation notices issued in South Australia over the past four years for mobile phone-related offences. I think that is an alarming statistic, and that is why the opposition is supporting the government introducing this bill to further safeguard, not only the drivers for misbehaving behind the wheel but also other road users who may be impacted.

What it really truly represents is that 20 people every day on South Australian roads are putting themselves and others in harm's way. I feel deeply for the families and loved ones of those 17 people who have lost their lives through distractions while driving on our roads. The message should be clear: if you cannot wait to use your mobile phone, pull over, get off the road and then do what you need to do on your device.

The discussion around the installation of the new mobile phone detection cameras is an important step towards working towards zero deaths on our roads. As I understand it, these high-definition detection cameras will be able to detect drivers illegally operating mobile devices. I think we will flesh that out in the committee stage. As a deterrent it really is important that we, as legislators, do everything we can, not only to keep drivers safe themselves but to keep other road users safe at the same time.

Cameras will be installed by the end of the year in high-risk locations, and there will be an education program, and I am very keen to understand the technology being used. As I understand it, New South Wales and Queensland are currently using this legislation to protect lives while motorists are operating vehicles. This technology is being trialled in Victoria and now the ACT. What we need to understand is that we have watched it work successfully elsewhere, and I think it is something that we should look at carefully in South Australia and understand that it is there for a very good reason.

As a significant user of our roads, clocking up a lot of ks while the roads are busy, it is a reminder, not only to me, that you should not use a device while you are driving. As legislators, we need to be vigilant to keep our roads safer and keep other drivers from being distracted while operating a vehicle.

What we must understand is that while distracted it is not about your life; it is about the other road users' lives as well. It is all too common. On the road, you can usually tell someone who is on the phone because they are using two lanes; they are crossing the white line. There are mechanisms within our devices so that you do not have to be distracted. I do not claim to be the philosopher of just how it works.

The technology in our vehicles is there to be used, but where the distraction appears to be most prevalent is when text messaging, using the device to send SMS messages. We have to understand that if it is just one little text, or if it is just one little phone call with the device in your hand, you have to pull over. That is my messaging to those who use their mobile devices while driving.

We understand that the incidents and the accidents, near-crash incidents, are up by up to 15 times every time you text—15 times. That is quite an alarming statistic. Drivers who look away from the road for just two seconds, it has been proven, cover more than 33 metres in a vehicle travelling at 60 km/h. You would not drive that far with your eyes closed. Essentially, that is what is happening.

There are advertisements on TV about being distracted. Looking into the back seat, looking down, looking for something on the floor or being on a mobile device is a distraction. It does take your eyes off the road, and that is why this bill should be supported. I think there are some questions to be asked in committee so that we can better understand just how it will impact on taxpayers, how it will impact on the way that it is implemented and how this new technology will better prepare drivers in South Australia to drive on safer roads.

Ms THOMPSON (Davenport) (12:12): I rise to offer my support for the mobile phone detection camera legislation presently before the house. Two seconds on your phone at 60 km/h is 33 metres driving blind. Distracted drivers are a serious risk on our roads. Between 2017 and 2021, inattention was a contributing factor in 51 per cent of fatal crashes and 34 per cent of serious injury crashes. These crashes resulted in 247 people killed and 1,330 people seriously injured.

If you glance away from the road when driving for just a couple of seconds at 60 km/h, you are effectively driving blind for 33 metres. Even worse, at 100 km/h you miss 55 metres of road. It might only be a second or two, but if you are changing a song on your playlist or finding your sunnies or even doing your make-up (guilty), you are not looking at the road ahead. Most of us would be guilty of doing this at some point. It is easy to think that you are being safe when you are sending a quick text when stopped at a traffic light, but there is no safe level of mobile use while driving.

Research has shown that using a mobile phone while driving increases crash risk by at least four times. The law is that a driver or rider of a vehicle can only touch a mobile phone to make, receive and terminate a phone call if the phone is secured in a mounting affixed to the vehicle. If the phone is not secured in a mounting, it can only be used to receive or terminate a call without touching it—for example, using voice activation, a Bluetooth hands-free car kit, an earpiece or a headset. That means you cannot put your phone on speaker and hold it in your hand or sit it on your lap.

It is illegal for the driver of a vehicle to create, send or look at a text message, video message or email while driving, even if it is in a cradle. Research shows that using a mobile phone while driving can now be just as risky as drink-driving. That is why we need to deter people from making this mistake. The Malinauskas government is committed to reducing dangerous and high-risk driving behaviours, such as distraction.

The Statutes Amendment (Use of Devices in Vehicles) Bill 2022 amends the Road Traffic Act 1961 to allow for the use of mobile phone detection cameras. Over the past four years well over 30,000 expiation notices were issued to drivers in South Australia for mobile phone offences. Mobile phone detection cameras will work in conjunction with existing enforcement measures and in addition to other road safety measures introduced by the Malinauskas Labor government, such as the new antihoon laws, which could see motorists found guilty of extreme speeding offences face three years imprisonment.

Mobile phone detection cameras will target distraction, one of the fatal five contributing factors known to cause road trauma. The other five fatal factors are drink-driving, speeding, not wearing a seatbelt and dangerous driving. This is not a first. Mobile phone detection cameras are being used interstate and have proven effective in identifying and deterring drivers from illegally using their phones. The revenue that is generated by mobile phone detection camera fines will be directed to the Community Road Safety Fund to invest in road safety for our community.

Important initiatives are funded through the Community Road Safety Fund, such as the State Black Spot Program, road safety research, the Way2Go school safety program and road safety infrastructure. Road safety is one of the key priorities in my electorate of Davenport, and that is why we are investing in our road infrastructure. We want to ensure that everybody gets home safely from school or from work.

We are investing more than $10 million in safety upgrades at Main Road, Cherry Gardens. It was not that long ago that our community lost a young man on that road, and local residents have been calling for this upgrade for years. We will widen the road, we will install new guardrails and we will reseal the surface. We are also investing in upgrading our school crossings in the electorate of Davenport at Braeview Primary School, Aberfoyle Park Primary, Aberfoyle Park High, Pilgrim Primary School and Craigburn Primary School.

The mobile detection cameras are expected to be operational from late 2023 with a three-month grace and education period. Road trauma is a blight on South Australian communities, and it tears families apart. This measure is aimed at saving lives. I commend this bill to the house.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (12:16): I rise in support of this bill. Also, I concur with the comments made by speakers so far, including the member for Chaffey.

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: I am supporting what you said. As a former road safety minister, this is an issue that is obviously dear to my heart. When you see the data about road crashes and the deaths on our roads, as well as the pain caused to the families and friends of those people who die on our roads, and when you see some of the causes of those deaths—which were avoidable—it really does make you think about what we need to do to get the message across.

We know what the five high-risk factors are. We know that speed is one of those. We know that drink-driving or taking drugs is a high-risk factor. We know that, for example, not wearing a seatbelt is a high-risk factor. Dangerous driving and distractions are the others. They are the five things that increase the risk of death on our roads.

The reality is that mistakes will be made on the road all the time. That is unfortunate. We all make mistakes as drivers. Anybody who suggests they do not make mistakes is either not driving or not even aware they have made a mistake, because we all make mistakes on the road. The important thing is that we minimise the potential for errors and also minimise the repercussions of those errors, and by that I mean that if you are driving at a speed way beyond what is recommended for that area you are increasing the risk. What could have been a minor car incident could be a major fatality. That is the importance of speed.

If, for example, you have been drinking or taking drugs, your capacity to respond quickly is diminished, and therefore if you or somebody else makes a mistake what should have been, perhaps, a minor incident can again be a fatal mistake because you have increased the risk by your behaviour. These behavioural areas are where we can influence some things.

Clearly, we need to make sure our roads are designed so that if we do make a mistake it does not lead to a fatality. That is why successive governments have made a whole range of improvements to our roads in terms of making sure there are wider roads, for example, so if you go off the road a little bit you do not end up rolling the car over and having a major injury. There are a lot of things we can do to minimise the extent of a fatality, should somebody make a mistake.

But, in terms of what is before us, it is interesting to note that some people still think it is quite appropriate to try to text or to pick up the handset of a phone and be distracted while on the road. In any workplace, you would not be allowed to do that. If you are operating some machinery in a workplace, you just would not be allowed to do that because the risk of being distracted when you are operating some machinery or equipment could be quite fatal. There is no difference when you are sitting behind the wheel of a car.

As has been said a number of times already this morning, you may cause a crash but somebody else may die from your behaviour. I think that is even worse than somebody who has actually killed themselves through a distraction. In my view, no phone call or text message is so important that it warrants causing a death on our road—whether it is your own or somebody else's.

I cannot think of any text message or any phone call that is so important it would warrant doing that. When you do play with your phone or take text messages or send a text or use your phone, that is what you are actually saying—that phone call, that text message, is more important than your own life or somebody else's life, and it is not. It is not.

Driver distraction is a major road safety risk, leading to fatal and serious injuries and crashes in South Australia. This government is committed—I think all governments are committed—to reducing dangerous and high-risk driving behaviours, and one of those is distraction. Using a mobile phone while driving is dangerous, and I am not sure why people think otherwise. Road trauma is a blight on South Australian communities and tears families apart.

This measure is an important deterrent to a significant behavioural contributor to the road toll. Mobile phone detection cameras that have been installed interstate have proven effective in identifying drivers who illegally use their phones. As I said, if a phone call is that important or a text is so important, you pull aside, stop your car and do what you have to do. You keep yourself and other people safe.

The introduction of mobile phone detection cameras aligns with South Australia's Road Safety Strategy target of reducing serious casualties to fewer than 43 lives lost and 474 serious injuries by 2031. That is a huge target. It is an admirable target. It is a huge target, given by then there will be more people on our roads. We actually are trying to reduce the rate considerably.

The statutes amendment bill amends the Road Traffic Act to allow for the use of mobile phone detection cameras. Between 2017 and 2021, inattention was a contributing factor in 51 per cent of fatal crashes and 34 per cent of serious injury crashes. This equates to 247 deaths and 1,330 serious injuries. Over the past four years, over 30,000 expiation notices were issued to drivers in South Australia for mobile phone offences. That is an incredibly high number of people continuing to do the wrong thing.

Mobile phone detection cameras will work in conjunction with existing enforcement measures in addition to other road safety measures introduced by this government, such as the new antihoon laws that can see motorists found guilty of extreme speeding offences facing three years of imprisonment. Mobile phone detection cameras will target distraction, one of the fatal five that I mentioned earlier, and hopefully will help reduce our road toll.

Importantly, all revenue generated by mobile phone detection cameras will be directed to the Community Road Safety Fund to invest in road safety measures in our community. Examples include the State Black Spot program, road safety research and the Way2Go school safety program, amongst others. In my own electorate, we have introduced a number of road safety measures, particularly road safety measures for pedestrians.

The cameras are expected to be operational from late 2023, with a three-month grace and education period. I am hoping that this measure will encourage those 30,000 people who have been caught over the last four years to learn from their behaviour and also encourage others so we can get that figure down. I think this measure will be successful when we are issuing fewer expiation notices because people are doing the right thing. I commend the bill to the house.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Odenwalder): The always attentive member for Badcoe.

Ms STINSON (Badcoe) (12:25): I will take that in the good spirit in which I am sure it is intended, Mr Acting Speaker. I rise to speak on this bill and support the passage of this bill. When I was a teenager—quite some time ago, only 17—we came up to the school holidays. One of my very good friends, Chaplin, one day was driving his beaten-out old kombi. It was lime green; some relic from the seventies. Back in those days we had CDs, and he was changing the CD in his kombi.

No-one really knows what happened. In those few moments while he took his eyes off the road, he pranged the car, and the result was that he spent several months—all of the summer break at the end of school—banged up in hospital. For a bloke who loved his surfing and was so looking forward to the summer, that last summer that we spent together before we all went off to jobs, university and other things, it was quite a price to pay.

He had a metal support right down his back, and he spent the whole time flat in hospital, looking out the window and hearing what a great summer everyone else had as we came in and tried to keep him company over that summer. He must have been there for about four or five months. He went on to be a builder. I think that it has probably had a few consequences for him, and I am not sure that the surfing has been of quite the same grade since he banged up his back all those many years ago.

In those many hours that we had sitting in the hospital with him, trying to keep him company and keep his spirits up, we had lots of time to think about this tiny moment of inattention that led to such big consequences for this young man. Obviously, he was really lucky. He did not suffer further injuries, he had no-one else in the car and he did not run into anyone, but he injured himself quite extensively. That had some consequences for him that summer but also for his health in the years going ahead.

We all reflected on the fact that it could have been worse. In just a moment, so much can change. That really had an impact on us as young people with our driving—we were all new drivers at the time as well—not to be mucking around with the CD player, not to be putting your make-up on in the car, brushing your hair, talking to your friends, drinking your milkshake or whatever you might have been doing while you were driving because, in just a mere moment, something like that could happen. Of course, we did realise how lucky he was in so many ways.

Looking at this bill, I was reminded of that story, that experience as a teenager and the consequences it had. You reflect on your own driving as well and how you might be a better driver. In this particular piece of legislation, obviously, there are consequences—photographs are taken and you can be fined—but one of its great powers is really the deterrent factor: that you might get caught, that you might have to face a consequence and that you are not really going to know when you are going to have that image taken and when you are going to suffer those consequences.

I hope that, as people see publicity about this law and what it means, it does make them reflect on their driving and how we could all be better drivers. That is probably where the power of this legislation lies: not just in those who get caught but in those who do not get caught and maybe spend an extra moment thinking about their own driving, thinking about not touching the mobile phone, not picking up that text and not pressing the little button.

Even though it might seem like a tiny little thing that you are doing, that moment of inattention can lead to pretty dire consequences, obviously dire consequences for yourself (as my friend Chaplin had) and also, God forbid, some pretty bad consequences for other road users including pedestrians, cyclists and others who might be in the way of you at that moment that you take your eyes off the road.

I am pretty sure many other aspects of this have been covered by my colleagues and those opposite quite comprehensively, so with those brief remarks I might leave it there and express that I support this bill.

The Hon. J.K. SZAKACS (Cheltenham—Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services) (12:30): In closing the debate, I thank members for their contributions. What is clear, from the will expressed by members on both sides of this chamber, is their strong unwavering commitment to improving road safety outcomes for all South Australians. I note the member for Chaffey, the shadow minister, has a particular focus and commitment to regional road safety, and I commend him for that. I also note the opening remarks by the member for Heysen.

If it is the will of the chamber to move to committee, which I understand it is, I would expect there to be a degree of elimination on some of the matters raised by members. I do note of particular significance, though, to this iteration of the bill is the removal of the prohibition on the ability of SAPOL to utilise images captured by this technology in the investigation of serious crime.

In the last version of this bill, the house considered a prohibition. The decision made by this government has been to remove that prohibition. We think that not only is it a sound tool to give SAPOL but it also gives consistency across the evidentiary ability of SAPOL to access images captured by technology in line with speed cameras and red-light cameras.

In closing, I also note the important decision made by our government to ensure that the revenue attached to this road safety initiative is quarantined and to be channelled into the Community Road Safety Fund. This is about improving outcomes for road users. I would be the happiest minister in this place to see a huge overestimation of revenue. I would like to see these cameras return zero revenue because we know that would be a demonstration of the public's and the community's absolute black and white, line in the sand approach to the use of mobile phones whilst driving.

Every member in this place has noted just how dangerous it is to use your mobile phone while you are driving. There are very strict but also very reasonable manners and ways in which a phone call can be made in a vehicle. It has been noted that car manufacturers have dramatically improved their rollout of technology that improves the safe use of mobile phone technology whilst driving.

However, I do remind people that the very strict caveat around the use of a mobile phone whilst driving is that it must be in a cradle. That cradle must be fit for purpose and manufactured for the purpose of this action, or your phone can be hardwired in your car. It can only be for the receipt or the making of a phone call. It cannot be for sending emails, it cannot be for text messaging and it cannot be for taking a video of yourself—it cannot be for these nefarious reasons. It has to be for very defined purposes and, from a policymaking perspective, we are unapologetic about that. The national Road Rules are very consistent on this, so we want to see a quick and unbridled reduction in road deaths and road trauma.

We trust that hopefully the quick passage of this bill, subject to the will of this house, will mean that we can continue the procurement, continue the rollout and continue the education of our community before the ultimate implementation of this new technology to stamp out what is a dangerous and improper use of phones whilst driving.

Bill read a second time.

Committee Stage

In committee.

Clause 1.

Mr WHETSTONE: First and foremost, on the cameras that will be brought into operation, how many will there be?

The Hon. J.K. SZAKACS: The number of cameras will be determined by the procurement. The procurement is running live with this. The government made a decision to proceed with procurement, notwithstanding the passage of this bill, so the final number of cameras will be a matter determined through the procurement process.

Mr WHETSTONE: You are saying procurement process, so the cost of each camera will determine on how many?

The Hon. J.K. SZAKACS: Sorry, member, would you mind repeating that question?

Mr WHETSTONE: You are saying that the number of cameras will depend on the procurement process. Is that determined by the cost of each camera?

The Hon. J.K. SZAKACS: Yes, that is correct. There is a parcel of budget allocation, of course, which has been made to this. The last thing I would seek to do is to intercede in the procurement process which is occurring, but it is safe to say that, depending upon the market response to that procurement being run by the Department for Infrastructure and Transport, that will determine the final number of cameras that are installed.

The CHAIR: Member for Chaffey, I just thought I would remind you that you need to stand. Unfortunately, you are not exempt from this. I have just had a message from the broadcasters. They do not know where to go unless you are standing.

Mr WHETSTONE: Minister, we talk about not knowing the number of cameras depending on the procurement. In regard to the cameras' capacity, will the cameras be able to detect mobile phone use in both directions?

The Hon. J.K. SZAKACS: I am advised that the capacity is there, that the answer is yes. It is determined on obviously the nature of the location. The nature of the location of these is being advised through advice that we are taking from the Centre for Automotive Safety Research. There is also a matter of the angle at which the camera is installed, so the angle and the location will determine ultimately whether that camera does detect traffic from both directions. To give a simple answer to the member's question, the procurement intent is to have cameras that are capable of capturing images of vehicles from both directions.

Mr WHETSTONE: What about cameras on multilane roads?

The CHAIR: Quickly just answer this question and then we can go to the next bit. Can you just repeat that question?

Mr WHETSTONE: Minister, you have given me an understanding that the cameras have a capacity to detect both ways. If cameras were to be installed on a multilane road—freeways, highways, where we have more than one lane—do they have that capacity?

The Hon. J.K. SZAKACS: Yes, they do.

Progress reported; committee to sit again.

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