Queensland drivers to cop higher driving fines

Drivers in Queensland will see some fines increase by as much as 161 per cent under new changes to traffic infringements.

Speeding offences up to 20km/h over the limit are set to rise by 56 per cent, while those caught driving between 31km/h and 40km/h more will now pay $1078 – a 67 per cent hike from the previous $643 fine.

While not wearing a seatbelt and running a red light were both $413 fines previously, now those in the front seats who fail to clip-in will have to pay $1078, with red light runners only having to cough up $575 for their misdeed.

"Today we are reaffirming our commitment to zero road deaths and serious injuries by 2050 by cracking down on driver behaviour,” Queensland’s Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said at the announcement.

“In the first four months of our new seatbelt detection cameras going live, almost 14,000 seatbelt offences were recorded,” he said.

“We’ve been educating drivers on the importance of seatbelts for 50 years, but somehow the message didn’t get through to almost 14,000 people, so it’s time to get tough.”

As well as increasing the no-seatbelt fine to $1078, demerits will also increase from three points to four.

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“We make no apologies for being tough on this reckless and dangerous behaviour, just like we did for mobile phone offences,” Minister Bailey said.

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

Queensland Police has caught almost 500 drivers each day using their mobile phones since new cameras were introduced in November 2021.

“We know using a phone while driving is the equivalent of getting behind the wheel with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.07-0.10 – it’s just not on,” Minister Bailey said at the time.

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In an effort to reduce so-called ‘hoon’ behaviour, Queensland Police set up an online portal recently to allow citizens to share evidence of dangerous driving.

At the last budget, the Queensland Government forecast revenue from fines and forfeitures would increase by almost 40 per cent over the 2021-22 financial year, bringing in around $595 million.