Singapore PR fined RM3,350 for improper seatbelt wearing in Queensland

SINGAPORE: A woman was fined A$1,106 (S$1,000/RM3,350) by the Queensland government on July 26, over a month after returning to Singapore from a road trip in Australia.

Shelley Lu told The Straits Times she had been caught by traffic cameras wearing her seat belt tucked under her arm while riding shotgun in a rental car.

The Singapore permanent resident, 42, said she was fined for wearing her seat belt improperly, denying previous media reports that she had been penalised for not wearing a seat belt.

“I feel it’s so itchy when it touches my neck, so I put it under my arm,” said Ms Lu, who is a Chinese national.

“It should have been over my shoulder,” The Star reported on Sunday.

The fine came as a shock after a family holiday spent driving from Brisbane to the Gold Coast between June 13 and 19, said Ms Lu, who works at a non-profit organisation.

She expressed surprise on several counts over the incident.

First, “that a breach of this traffic rule could cost a thousand dollars”.

“Second is the rule itself,” she added. “I’ve never known that even though I’ve put a seatbelt on, that I could still be fined because I didn’t put it at the right place.”

Lu also said she was shocked because she did not know that a camera could accurately detect that she had put the seat belt on but had not done so correctly.

“And how it found me amongst thousands of cars,” she said.

The transport and motoring section on the Queensland government’s website specifies that seat belts must be worn with the belt running over the shoulder, across the chest, and the belt must be buckled low on the hip.

“Wearing a seat belt any other way will result in a fine,” it adds.

But Lu feels no indignation at the fine and said she approved of the Australian law “for passenger safety”.

The deadline for payment was extended from Aug 1 to Aug 26 after Lu contested it.

“Definitely, I will pay it,” she said, adding that she does not want any trouble should she return to Australia.

According to a media statement issued in August 2023, to mark Queensland Road Safety Week, Mark Bailey, then Queensland Minister for Transport and Main Roads, noted that travelling unrestrained was one of the top five contributing factors to lives lost on the state’s roads, with 30 per cent of fatalities either wearing a seat belt incorrectly or not at all.

A media fact sheet also said that information provided by Queensland Health medical practitioners revealed that a person wearing a seat belt under the arm or looped under the arm could have injuries including fractures to the sternum, ribs, vertebra, skull, face and neck.

The lungs, heart, oesophagus, stomach and bowel could also be injured. Shoulder dislocations or fractures are also possible.