Fines cost Tamworth motorists $251,416 in year of COVID lockdown

Statistics collected by Revenue NSW show 2020 was a costly year for local drivers, with Oxley police and Tamworth Regional Council levying hundreds of fines.

Four categories of driving offences measured by Revenue NSW together cost local motorists $251,416.

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Local police issued 195 fines for seatbelt offences, in what was our most expensive bad behaviour behind the wheel.

All told, $70,007 in fines were issued to drivers and passengers for not wearing a seatbelt. January was the most expensive month, with 26 offences costing drivers $9706.

Police caught 55 motorists driving while using their mobile phone in 2020, leaving a $19,015 hole in our hip pockets.

And between human law enforcement and cameras, some 103 residents were caught for speeding or red light offences. Cameras raised $14,319 in fines while police collected $4091.

But as usual, by far, the most expensive driving vice involved motorists parking their cars too long in the wrong places.

Council slugged some 980 people with parking tickets, costing drivers $143,984.

That's despite council switching off the city's parking metres from April to September due to the pandemic. Drivers could still break the law by parking too long in time-limited bays.

Some 267 drivers earned a fine during the four-month hiatus that way. The Revenue NSW statistics cover from January to November 2020.

In 2019, the council received $764,430 in income from car parking, though it spent more than that on operational costs and capital works for car parking.

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