The Western Australian government has launched a new awareness campaign across the state as its new safety cameras are set to begin enforcing next month.
Following an eight-month education and caution notice period, enforcement is set to commence for offences detected by WA’s new fixed and trailer mounted AI-enabled safety cameras from October 8.
Ahead of this, a state-wide awareness campaign is now live across TV, radio, print, digital, social media and roadside billboard channels to remind drivers that safety cameras will begin enforcing.
The message is clear: Touching your phone? Incorrectly or not wearing a seatbelt? Speeding? You’ll be caught in a flash.
The ‘Caught in a Flash’ campaign aims to further increase public knowledge of the safety cameras and shift driver behaviour before infringements start being issued.
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Six safety camera trailers operating in the Perth metropolitan area, Great Southern and Mid West, and fixed cameras on the Kwinana Freeway have detected more than 300,000 mobile phone, seatbelt and speeding offences since February.
Of those seatbelt and mobile phone offences in that period, more than 65,000 caution notices have been issued to warn and give drivers an opportunity to change their behaviour.
Over the course of the caution notice period, there has been a decrease in offences detected by the safety cameras.
The WA government has also committed more than $750,000 across five new community partnerships to help inform all Western Australians about the new safety camera technology, continuing its education-before-enforcement approach.
These partnerships, funded under the Road Safety Commission’s Community Initiatives Program, will deliver targeted education programs across the metropolitan and regional areas, including those in remote communities.
Partner organisations will lead community workshops, provide resources and support awareness campaigns tailored to local needs and contexts.
By working with organisations that have deep roots in these communities, the aim is to ensure everyone has access to clear, accurate information about the new technology.
“Our safety cameras are a critical addition to existing enforcement tools, helping to tackle the dangerous driving behaviours most commonly linked to serious and fatal crashes,” WA road safety minister Reece Whitby says.
“This is about fairness and safety. For eight months we have warned drivers, and our ‘Caught in a Flash’ campaign is another attempt to prompt people to change their dangerous driving behaviours before enforcement commences.
“The community partnerships are an essential part of a fair and inclusive education approach to ensure everyone understands how new safety cameras work and why they are being introduced.
“Too many lives are lost or forever changed because someone chose to speed, look at their phone, or not wear a seatbelt properly.
“Drivers have had months of warning and plenty of time to adjust. Now it’s time to enforce the rules that keep our community safe.”
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