How AI and next-gen speed cameras are catching more drivers than ever before

From catching just over 600 speeding drivers a year to more than 700 in one week – that is the astounding rise in offences detected by new automatic speed cameras in Tasmania in a sign of how latest-gen technology is cracking down on Australian drivers.

In an effort to reduce road trauma and the national road death toll, Australian states and territories are rapidly upgrading their motoring offence enforcement technology, replacing outdated equipment to catch speeding, seatbelt and mobile phone offences, with authorities claiming that everybody will benefit.

According to Yahoo, during a recent trial of new automatic speed cameras on the Tasman Bridge in Hobart, over 700 drivers were caught speeding each week.

Introduced last month, the Sensys Gatso cameras replaced 1990s cameras that were decommissioned in 2022. The new cameras are able to detect multiple cars in multiple lanes, unlike the older cameras.

The old cameras detected just 624 speeding vehicles in 2020-21 and 458 in 2021-22, while the new system is catching more than 700 speeders each week.

The testing phase for the new cameras is now complete and they are fully operational. Tasmania’s Department of State Growth said the upgraded technology also enables motorists who receive infringement notices to view images and videos of their alleged offences via the road user portal, just like in other parts of Australia like NSW.

Sensys Gatso is responsible for 16 mobile speed cameras across Tasmania, which have detected more than 60,000 speeding offences in the past 12 months alone.

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Tasmania is not the only state in Australia upgrading its speed cameras. In New South Wales, two average speed camera locations on the Pacific Highway between Kew and Lake Innes, and the Hume Highway between Coolac and Gundagai are now monitoring all cars and trucks - not just heavy vehicles as before - while Victoria has expanded the operating hours of its mobile speed cameras to catch more drivers.

In Queensland, new AI-equipped cameras have been introduced to detect mobile phone use and those not wearing seatbelts, while Western Australia added six new mobile cameras at the end of 2024 and four new ‘smart cameras’ are reportedly planned for Perth freeways as well.

Despite debate from the public, road safety bodies argue that automated enforcement is saving lives with the NSW government providing statistics like a 40 per cent reduction in fatal crashes in areas with average speed cameras.

What are your thoughts on governments updating their road safety cameras? Let us know in the comments below.