Mobile phone detector installed to surveil Wagga drivers

The technology was still in place as of Tuesday morning.

Since March 1, the cameras have been operating in enforcement mode across NSW and up until October 31 they had checked more than 270,000 vehicles within the Riverina.

This resulted in 676 penalty notices being issued.

Around one in every 400 drivers checked in the Riverina region during this period were issued a penalty notice, an offence rate of 0.25 per cent.

The fine for using a phone illegally is $349, or $464 if detected in a school zone with a five-demerit-point penalty.

According to Transport for NSW, artificial intelligence software automatically reviews images and detects potential offending drivers.

Then, an "authorised adjudicator" will always check the shots to confirm that illegal mobile phone use has occurred before issuing a penalty notice.

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Transport for NSW's Deputy secretary for safety, environment and regulation, Tara McCarthy, said lives are being lost on NSW roads because of drivers illegally using their mobile phones.

"We are committed to halting the trend - and that's why we've been rolling out this world first safety technology targeting illegal mobile phone use," she said.

"Fixed and transportable mobile phone detection cameras have been deployed across the state and transportable cameras are regularly moved from site to site across NSW.

"Transport for NSW does not disclose the locations of the mobile phone detection cameras to deter people from breaking the law and putting people's lives at risk. Offenders could be caught anywhere on the road network at any time."