NSW has implemented technology to catch people using their mobile phone while driving. David Brown looks to see if it is working.
Mobile phone detection cameras in NSW have raised $7.1 million in fines in the two months since they were introduced. 11,800 were caught in March but this dropped by nearly 24% in April. So they are catching offenders but April has also seen a significant drop in traffic so while they are catching offenders it seems the message is not getting through yet.
Detection cameras are not the only way to get caught. In the same period some 1,200 fines were issued by highway patrol or general duty police officers.
The government aims to get over 300 installed but they won’t tell you where they are.
Motoring Minutes are heard around Australia every day on over 50 radio channels through the Torque Radio network. Motoring Minutes have an average daily audience of over 150,000 listeners. Motoring Minutes are also broadcast as part of Overdrive Radio Program, which is broadcast through the Community Radio Network across Australia and has a weekly audience of over 450,000.
David’s boyhood passion for motor cars did not immediately lead to a professional role in the motor industry. A qualified Civil Engineer he specialised in traffic engineering and transport planning.
What followed were various positions including being seconded to a government think-tank for the planning of transport firstly in Sydney and then for the whole of NSW. After working with the NRMA and as a consultant he moved to being an independent writer and commentator on the broader areas of transport and the more specific areas of the cars we drive.
His half hour motoring program “Overdrive” has been described as an “informed, humorous and irreverent look at motoring and transport from Australia and overseas”. It is heard on 22 stations across Australia. He does weekly interviews with several ABC radio stations and is also heard on commercial radio in Sydney.
David has written for metropolitan and regional newspapers and has presented regular segments on metropolitan and regional television stations. David is also a contributor for AnyAuto
