The mobile phone and seatbelt detection trial in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland started on 24 May 2022 and finished on 24 November 2022. At first, the safety cameras only detected people using their mobile phones while driving. From 22 July, we switched on capability to detect people not wearing their seatbelts.
We didn’t take action on offences during the trial, so drivers didn’t receive warnings, fines, or any other communication from us. We kept 4 anonymous photos for the final report and deleted all other photos within 48 hours of taking them.
We did a privacy impact assessment (PIA) before the trial and worked with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner to address all privacy matters. There’s more information on the PIA in our Privacy documents section below.
The trial report showed that people using mobile phones and not wearing seatbelts while driving are issues. We continue to look at what’s needed to achieve a change in these unsafe behaviours, including which road safety interventions are the most appropriate to use. Safety cameras and automated detection technology are potentially important tools for future use. They’re just one way we can contribute to the reduction of deaths and serious injuries on our roads.
Enforcement of mobile phone and seatbelt offences using safety cameras is currently not allowed under the Land Transport Act 1998. The data and learnings from this trial will inform our decisions about future road safety measures.
Mobile phone and seatbelt detection trial report – July 2023 [PDF, 486 KB]
Monthly updates on the number of detected offences throughout the trial are published below. This data is directly from the camera supplier and has not been analysed. As this was a technology trial, the data may contain gaps due to operational factors relating to camera setup and reconfiguration.
| Total offences – mobile phone | Offence rate – mobile phones | Total offences – seatbelts< | Offence rate – seatbelts | Total vehicles | |
|
24 May – 23 June 2022 |
23,904 |
0.99% |
N/A |
N/A |
2,423,700 |
|
24 June – 23 July 2022 |
26,429 |
1.33% |
N/A |
N/A |
1,988,300 |
|
24 July – 23 August 2022 |
45,747 |
1.7% |
8,663 |
0.32% |
2,674,610 |
|
24 August – 23 September 2022 |
44,138 |
1.55% |
9,523 |
0.33% |
2,847,547 |
|
24 September – 23 October 2022 |
25,739 |
1.70% |
10,121 |
0.67% |
1,514,789 |
|
24 October – 23 November 2022 |
33,558 |
2.36% |
15,137 |
1.06% |
1,421,617 |
|
Total to date |
199,515 |
1.6% |
43,444 |
0.59% |
12,870,563 |
Note: The seatbelt detection capability was activated on 22 July 2022.
