Couple slapped with $2200 in seatbelt fines by AI cameras

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Exclusive: A driver has been slugged with back-to-back fines totalling more than $2000 and 24 demerit points by Western Australia's new AI-based cameras.

But she wasn't told about the fines until weeks after the fact, and her husband insists they wouldn't have been issued at all if a human officer had pulled her over.

Tina* was first caught by an AI camera on November 30 last year.

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Tina was snapped with her seatbelt under her arm by an AI-based camera in WA.

It snapped her driving with her seatbelt tucked under her arm on the Kwinana Freeway in Perth's southern suburbs.

It's an offence to wear a seatbelt improperly in all Australian states and territories.

Over the next three weeks, the same camera snapped Tina with her seatbelt under her arm three more times.

Tina wasn't notified until more than a month later, when four nearly identical fines hit her mailbox in January.

"All of a sudden we get a flurry, a rampage of tickets generated by an artificially intelligent machine with no human intervention," her husband James told nine.com.au.

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A WA Department of Transport spokesperson told nine.com.au that "while all infringements are usually issued within one month of capture, this timeframe may vary depending on the number of incidents".

Tina is now facing three $550 fines and 16 demerit points (one of the offences had been during a double demerit period).

It's enough to have her licence suspended.

Tina was slugged with four fines totalling more than $2000 and 24 demerit points.

James has also been slugged with a $550 fine and eight demerit points for an infringement when Tina was in the passenger seat.

He said none of the fines would have been issued if a human had pulled them over.

Tina has a medical condition that affects her ability to wear a seatbelt across her chest, according to a medical referral sighted by nine.com.au.

"Had she been warned by a human police officer she could explain, 'sorry officer, I've got a medical certificate,'" James said.

But that's not an option when an AI camera is responsible for issuing fines.

Now they're worried Tina will lose her licence. 

That would be devastating for the stay-at-home mum, especially because James does fly-in, fly-out work.

"I work away, my wife wouldn't be able to go anywhere or do anything," James said.

"How is she meant to go about her daily life?"

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The couple copped four fines, including one for James when Tina was the passenger (bottom right).

He and Tina requested that the fines be reviewed as soon as they arrived.

James claimed he's made up to 20 calls to the Department of Transport trying to explain Tina's medical situation.

Some Australians may be issued a seatbelt exemption medical certificate by a doctor for a medical condition or disability.

WA's Department of Transport told nine.com.au these certificates must be signed by a registered medical practitioner and be current at the time of the alleged offence.

The certificate must say that the person is unable to wear a seatbelt for a specific qualifying medical reason, or that it would be unreasonable to require the wearing of a seatbelt due to the person's size, build or other physical characteristic.

The certificate must be carried whenever in a vehicle.

"If a driver (or their passenger) has a current, valid medical exemption and has been issued a seat belt infringement, they can email DTMI's Infringement Services area with the details, and attach the exemption certificate," a Department spokesperson said.

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At the time of writing, only one of Tina's infringements had been reviewed.

It was rejected, meaning she will have to pay the $550 fine and cop the demerit points, or take the matter to court.

"If I were to elect to go to court and we were to fail, we get an additional $350 added on top of the actual fine," James said.

"If we had a human being pull the car over, none of this would have ever happened."

*Names changed.

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