Motorists 'gobsmacked' by seatbelt fines speak out

Transport officials have put motorists on alert after catching tens of thousands of drivers not wearing seatbelts, or not wearing them correctly, in the first few months of new high tech cameras.

The infrared cameras which detect both mobile phone and seatbelt offences were launched in Queensland in July last year.

For the first three months, the cameras generated warnings to motorists doing the wrong thing.

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Since November, the cameras have been issuing fines, catching more than 75,000 people in just six months.

Annabelle Brett was shocked when she recently received a fine in the mail, thinking she'd been caught speeding.

"But when I saw that it was a seatbelt fine I was pretty gobsmacked," Brett told A Current Affair.

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Brett claimed she always wears a seatbelt and couldn't understand how she copped the $400 fine.

"If you are driving over 60 kilometres an hour, in my car and most modern cars nowadays anyway, it (the seatbelt alarm) goes mental. Like it's beeping the whole time," she said.

Brett posted about her fine online and said she was inundated by other drivers who had received similar fines, while believing they too were wearing seatbelts.

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One of those people was Antony Tseng, who was also caught on the new seatbelt cameras.

"I thought initially, that's impossible, because I always wear my seatbelt. I drive a Tesla which is quite savvy in terms of technology; it would have obviously let me know," Tseng said.

In the photos attached to Tseng's fine, it clearly looks like he isn't wearing a seatbelt, but he claims it must have camouflaged with his top, which was a similar colour.

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But unfortunately for Brett and Tseng, they've been caught out.

Andrew Mahon from Transport and Main Roads Queensland said the cameras rarely get it wrong.

"The technology is exceptional, the image quality is very high quality and we can always determine whether or not an offence has occurred," Mahon said.

The cameras have a three step process.

First the camera technology picks up, through artificial intelligence, if an offence has been committed.

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Then the photos are sent to two different authorised officers to sign off on, before a fine is issued.

Motorists then have the ability to log on to the Transport and Main Roads system following the links on their infringement notice, to view high definition photos of the offence.

In Tseng's case, the high definition photos showed he was in fact wearing his seatbelt, but not correctly.

He had the seatbelt clipped in, but the strap which is required to sit over his shoulder, was under his armpit.

"Not wearing the seatbelt correctly is the same offence as not wearing it at all," Mahon said.

For Brett, it was the same case, with the seatbelt sitting under her arm.

Of the 75,000 fines handed out in the past six months, 20,000 have been for seatbelt offences.

And it's a costly mistake to make.

Currently the fine for not wearing a seatbelt, or not wearing it correctly is $413, but it will go up to $1078 from July 1.