Canberra driver beats traffic fine by proving camera couldn't see the phone
Carl Jackson won his traffic fine appeal by proving the camera mistook a card holder for a phone.
Carl Jackson was driving home in Canberra in November 2025 with a card holder made from an old phone case resting on his lap. A mobile detection camera flagged him.
Carl Jackson got a $641 fine and three demerit points. Jackson appealed to Access Canberra; they rejected it.
So he took the ACT government to court. In the hearing on October 19, the crucial moment came when Jackson asked the government's expert witness: "Where is the screen?"
She couldn't answer. The magistrate acquitted him on the spot.
The bigger problem: almost 58,000 mobile phone fines have been issued since the cameras started, but the ACT government has never disclosed the system's error rate and failed to answer Jackson's questions about how the AI works.
- $641
- Fine amount
- 3
- Demerit points
- 58,000
- Total fines issued
- AI specialist
- Jackson's profession
Why it mattersIf high-tech traffic cameras are making this kind of mistake, thousands of drivers might be paying unjust fines with little chance to appeal.
AustraliaCanberra drivers could have been wrongfully fined; the case has reignited calls for an independent audit of the ACT's traffic enforcement system.
✓ Claims checked against the source. checked 9 h ago
