Correctly wearing a seatbelt while in a moving vehicle has been a legal requirement in NSW for more than 50 years, but data shows 150 people died while not wearing one in the five years between 2019 and 2023.

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On average, 15 percent of deaths on NSW roads every year still involve seatbelt non-usage, with 36 people tragically lost last year.

From July 1, the state’s world-first mobile phone detection camera network will enforce the seatbelt laws for the first time.

There will be no grace period of warning letters.

Photos released from testing of the cameras show a small but persistent percentage of drivers and some passengers continue to flout the law and wear their seatbelt incorrectly, including with the sash below the arm.

“Seatbelts save lives, it’s as simple as that,” Minister for Roads John Graham said.

“Wearing a seatbelt doubles a person’s chance of survival in a car crash and the NSW Government is doing everything we can to make sure the simplest safety feature in a car is being used by everyone.

“It has been a legal requirement to wear a seatbelt in NSW since 1971 and it is frankly disturbing that a small minority of people are still not heeding the message.

“If camera enforcement can convince those people to buckle up we can reduce the 15 percent of deaths that involve a belt not being worn.”

Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Jenny Aitchison said, “Despite five decades of enforcement and public awareness campaigns, on average more than 10,000 people a year are still fined by the NSW Police for not wearing a seatbelt.

“This has to change and we hope camera enforcement can be the catalyst.

“In the last five years, about 85 percent of the deaths and 76 percent of the serious injuries that occurred in crashes where someone wasn’t wearing a seatbelt happened in country NSW.”