Eyes on the road – new rules and more patrols

Victoria Police and the state government have an increased focus on road safety.

Earlier this month, Assistant Commissioner Road Policing, Glenn Weir urged regional drivers to take care on rural roads, saying “people residing in regional areas make up the majority of those killed on rural roads”.

Highway patrols have been bolstered in regional areas throughout February, with a statewide operation in place for the Labour Day long weekend in March.

Last week, the government announced new driver distraction road rules would come into effect from March 31.

Minister for Roads and Road Safety Melissa Horne said distraction is a key contributor to road trauma with research showing the risk of drivers crashing increases when texting, browsing or emailing.

Distraction is also involved in at least 11 per cent of fatalities – equal to 20 people each year whose death is avoidable.

The new rules will extend existing mobile phone rules to cover modern technology – as one third of drivers admit to using their phone illegally while driving.

It will bring Victoria in line with the Australian Road Rules, and cover in-built vehicle systems, mounted devices, wearable and portable devices such as smartwatches and tablets.

Learners and probationary drivers will not be permitted to touch any portable device, take phone calls or use voice control unless parked.

Fully licenced drivers are not to touch an unmounted device such as a phone or laptop, or have the device rest on any part of the body.

The device cannot display text messages, emails or social media posts.

A two-second glance at a device means you are travelling blind for 28 metres while driving in a 50km/h zone – and the distance jumps to 55 metres when travelling at 100km/h.

Motorists caught driving distracted will receive penalties of four demerit points and a $555 fine.

The government is also introducing new mobile phone and seatbelt detection camera technology that will help catch people using their mobile phones and not wearing their seatbelts while driving.

Mobile phone and seatbelt detection technologies involve AI-enabled camera systems that can capture high-resolution images of passing vehicles in all conditions.

The new camera technology will be operational on Victorian roads in coming months. There will be a three-month warning period before drivers face infringement and demerit penalties.

For more information on the new road rules visit vicroads.vic.gov.au/drivingdistractions 

Details of mobile phone and seat belt detection cameras: camerassavelives.vic.gov.au