There’s hope for us all: Furious driver who was fined $349 for scoffing a chocolate bar while behind the wheel WINS his appeal battle after cops insisted he was on his phone
- A motorist who claimed he was wrongly fined $349 has won his appeal
- Scott Phillips was snapped by a hi-tech camera holding something in his hand
- He was fined $349 and issued five demerit points but they were revoked
- The world-first AI mobile detection technology has been criticised by many
A man who was fined $349 and issued five demerit points after he was pictured by a mobile phone detection camera has won his appeal.
Scott Phillips, a New South Wales Southern Highlands local, claimed he was simply eating a chocolate bar not using his phone.
He was captured by one of NSW’s 45 secret cameras using world-first AI technology to catch out dangerous drivers.
The image shows Mr Phillips holding something in his left hand while driving, leaving him stung with a fine and copping five demerit points off his license.
Scott Phillips was snapped by a mobile-phone detection camera but won a battle over the $349 fine, claiming he was actually just eating a chocolate bar (pictured, the image in question)
But he said the photo clearly shows his phone on the dashboard proving the item in his hand was a delicious snack and not an electronic device.
Mr Phillips is adamant he does not own a second phone.
‘It was probably sunnies or maybe a chocolate bar, I’m not entirely sure,’ Scott told 7NEWS.
‘Embarrassing I got caught eating chocolate in the car but it definitely wasn’t a phone.’
The motorist fought the fine saying the photo clearly shows his phone on the dashboard proving the item on his hand was a delicious snack and not an electronic device
The cameras, which were first trialed in 2019, have stung tens of thousands of motorists across Sydney and the rest of the state.
Transport for NSW said the ground-breaking technology is saving lives in the state with 183 NSW road crashes between 2012 to January 2020, involving a driver using their mobile phone.
But hundreds of motorists have contested the hefty penalties arguing the fines are based on one still picture which is not enough to prove drivers were holding their phones.
Many drivers, like Mr Phillips, have claimed the cameras misidentified the objects they were handling.
In 2020, the state raked in more than $60million for mobile phone offences.
The secret hi-tech cameras use artificial intelligence software to automatically review images and detect offending drivers
Criminal lawyer Michael Mantaj is a staunch critic of the hi-tech cameras.
‘It presumes that any object you hold is a mobile phone,’ he told Nine News.
‘It’s almost as if by magic the law is turning a chocolate bar or a cup of coffee that you might be holding in your hand into a mobile phone.’
The State Government’s legislation shifts the onus of proof off of the Crown and onto the motorist.
It means the motorist would have to prove the item in their hand wasn’t a phone.
The onus of proof has always remained with the Crown and is the basis for ‘innocent until proven guilty’.
Mr Phillips said he shouldn’t have to prove he didn’t have a mobile phone in his hand.
‘It should be up to law enforcement to make that case themselves, not for me to disprove it,’ he said.
Advertisement
