A Brisbane tour bus owner-operator has been fined several thousand dollars for a passenger of his vehicle wearing their seatbelt incorrectly.
Gary Carson, who owns Adventure Day Trips in Brisbane was driving a minibus with 11 passengers to the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers when the state government's seatbelt and mobile phone cameras caught a passenger not wearing their seatbelt properly.
"She'd obviously turned around, it looks like she's going to take a photo of people in the back or talk to someone in the back, and she's slipped her seatbelt down under her shoulder," he told ABC Radio Brisbane.
"The cameras pick that up, and I got a nice little surprise on Friday when I got fined for $5,390."
From July 1, increased penalties for camera-detected offences came into effect, with a $1,078 fine and four demerit points for illegal mobile phone use while driving, or for failing to wear a seatbelt or not wearing it properly.
Drivers can also be fined a further $1,078 and four demerit points for each front-seat passenger not wearing a seatbelt correctly.
More than 100,000 infringement notices for illegal use of mobile phones or not wearing seatbelts detected by the fixed and portable cameras were issued by the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) between November 2021 and May 2022.
Since July 1, 2022, there have been more than 4,500 infringement notices issued for drivers not wearing seatbelts correctly or at all, and more than 9,200 infringements issued for a front-seat passenger not wearing their seatbelt or not wearing it correctly.
In Queensland, a driver failing to ensure a passenger wears a seatbelt properly would normally attract four demerit points and a fine of $1,078 but if the motorist were driving a vehicle registered to a business, the fine is five times that amount, with zero demerit points.
But organisations can nominate an individual as the driver and the penalty amount is then reduced to the amount for an individual and demerit points allocated.
Driver to contest fine
Mr Carson said before the start of every tour, he tells all passengers to buckle up before he starts driving.
"I know if ever I see anything like that I would have gestured, 'Hey, turn around', you know, instantly to sort of suggest that they don't do that.
"Well, obviously the driver is responsible, but at 100 kilometres an hour, I'm not going to look around and check my passengers every time they wriggle."
After ABC Radio Brisbane's Drive program covered the story, Mr Carson said he had been told by TMR there was a clerical error, and he should not have received the fine because he is the owner of a public passenger vehicle.
TMR says, in relation to camera-detected seatbelt offences in buses, it does not issue penalty infringement notices for passengers failing to wear their seatbelt properly if the vehicle is a public passenger service.
"Camera-detected mobile phone and seatbelt offences are no different to any other offence type, any infringement notice can be court-elected, and it is the primary avenue for customers to contest a fine," a spokesperson said.
