NRMA calls for change as seatbelt fines skyrocket
Key points:
- Seatbelt infringements up more than 2000 per cent
- Most infringements are due to incorrect use rather than failure to wear a seatbelt
- The NRMA says passengers should be held accountable
The NRMA is calling for drivers to be allowed to nominate adult passengers who are caught incorrectly wearing a seatbelt by a roadside camera, as new figures reveal seatbelt infringements have soared by 2357 per cent.
The call comes as the NRMA releases its Buckle Up Right report, which found 88 per cent of seatbelt infringements were issued for incorrect seatbelt use rather than not wearing a seatbelt at all.
The report found seatbelt infringements jumped 2357 per cent to 132,755 fines in 2024/25 following the introduction of camera detection technology to complement enforcement by NSW police.
The NRMA says drivers should be able to nominate an adult passenger responsible for an incorrectly worn seatbelt, similar to proposed changes currently before the Queensland Parliament.
At present, the law penalises drivers for the actions of their adult passengers, with fines and demerit points imposed on a driver who was not responsible for the offence.
“Drivers nominating adult passengers who break the law ensures the penalty lands with the person committing the crime, because nobody should lose their licence for an offence committed by someone else,” NRMA spokesperson Peter Khoury said.
“After all, drivers should be focused on the road ahead of them.”
While the NRMA is calling for changes to how camera-detected offences are attributed, the report also highlights the scale of incorrect seatbelt use.
Of the 126,728 seatbelt infringements issued in 2024/25, 111,521 – or 88 per cent – were for drivers or passengers wearing their seatbelts incorrectly. Only 12 per cent were issued for not wearing a seatbelt at all. Notably, passengers accounted for almost two-thirds (62 per cent) of offences.
An NRMA survey of 1007 NSW residents also found gaps in motorists' understanding of who is responsible when a passenger is caught by a seatbelt camera.
Almost 40 per cent of those surveyed did not know who would receive the fine when a passenger infringement was detected.
Open Road readers have also raised the issue of whether drivers or passengers should receive infringement notices, with NRMA member John Murby describing the current system as “a breach of natural justice” after a passenger was caught wearing a seatbelt incorrectly during a trip from Bathurst.
Murby said his passenger had moved her seatbelt under her arm without him noticing, but the offence was detected by a camera and resulted in him receiving a fine and demerit points.
The demerit points also affected his insurance costs, he said, potentially adding thousands of dollars to his premiums across multiple vehicles.
“While I recognise the need for seatbelt regulations to reduce the road toll, wording the law to make the driver responsible for an adult passenger’s actions seems a breach of natural justice and likely to have a negative effect on safety as it requires an ongoing distraction of the driver’s attention,” Murby wrote.
“At the very least the demerit points penalty for this ‘driving’ offence should be removed, especially in cases where it was a matter of the seatbelt being worn incorrectly.”
The NRMA’s Buckle Up Right report calls for an immediate, large-scale public education campaign on correct seatbelt use, which the NRMA says should be launched before any expansion of the seatbelt detection camera program.
The NRMA is also calling for targeted education campaigns aimed at high-risk groups, including pregnant women and older road users.
The report found the most common situations among people who admitted they did not always wear a seatbelt correctly were driving on private property (34 per cent), taking short trips close to home (31 per cent), and having three or more people seated in the back (20 per cent).
On average, 32 people are killed and 74 are seriously injured in NSW each year while not wearing a seatbelt.
