Victoria rolls out $555 fines for distracted driving as road deaths spike

Victorian roads claimed 240 lives last year, a troubling 3 per cent increase from the previous year. One in four of those deaths involved a driver who was not wearing a seatbelt. Now the state is deploying its toughest enforcement yet against two of the deadliest driving habits: distracted driving and seatbelt non-compliance. From this week, mobile phone use while driving carries a $555 fine and four demerit points, potentially rising to $1,849 if the case proceeds to court.

The crackdown is being enforced through a new detection system: AI-assisted cameras placed at high-accident sites across Victoria, with human officers verifying any flagged violations. The cameras target the state's 6.6 million residents and are designed to detect both phone use and seatbelt breaches. If a driver is caught, a human reviews the image before any penalty is issued.

The rules are not uniform across all licence types. Drivers with unrestricted licences can use commercially designed phone mounts for navigation and music, provided they aren't entering text, scrolling or viewing images. Voice-controlled wearable devices are also permitted. Motorcycle riders are allowed to use helmet-mounted devices only through voice commands or brief manual adjustments set up before the ride begins.

Learner and provisional licence holders, however, face far stricter restrictions. They cannot operate any portable device while driving — not even a mounted phone or voice commands. They must pull over and park to change a song or update navigation. Having a device resting in their lap is now unlawful. The consequences are steeper as well: young drivers will automatically lose their licence if they accumulate more than four demerit points in a 12-month period.

The state is softening the transition with a three-month warning period. During that time, drivers caught breaching the new rules will receive a caution rather than a fine, giving motorists time to adjust their habits before full enforcement begins.

The enforcement push represents a direct response to Victoria's persistent road toll. Distracted driving and unrestrained passengers have consistently emerged as leading factors in fatal crashes. State authorities hope the combination of visible camera deployment, significant financial penalties and licence-point consequences will reshape driver behaviour, particularly in high-risk zones.

The data underpinning the crackdown is stark. The 240 deaths recorded last year exceeded the 233 fatalities of the year before, suggesting that existing measures have not fully arrested the trend. By introducing both detection technology and graduated penalties that hit young and inexperienced drivers particularly hard, Victoria is betting that a multi-layered approach will succeed where softer interventions have not.