May 29, 2026 — 2:26pmWestern Australia’s road safety commissioner has flagged targeted driver education programs for repeat offenders as the state continues to struggle with one of the worst road tolls in recent years.As police brace for another long weekend of double demerits, which came into effect on Friday and will be in place until midnight on Monday for WA Day, Road Safety Commissioner Adrian Warner said the programs were being considered in a bid to change people’s behaviour behind the wheel.WA Police Minister Reece Whitby.Colin Murty“This is part of something we have already scoped into the broader review of penalties, we are talking about sort of targeted offender diversion programs, education and behaviour change programs,” he said.“We know that we are doing our research around what is happening around the world and other jurisdictions. We know we’ve already identified some behaviour change programs.“We think they have a place, because at the end of the day, one size doesn’t fit everyone. We need to have more targeted approaches and do what works, and for some people it’s going to be a really intensive program.”Warner said WA Police already had education programs, including the alcohol interlock scheme, in place for repeat drink-driving offenders, but said the current program was voluntary“We need to look at those in a very serious way,” he said.“We’ve already announced the scope of the review and the terms the review.“The bulk of the review and the recommendations will go to the government in 2027.”Warner’s comments came as the WA government announced the rollout of new safety cameras on the Mitchell Freeway on Thursday.New cameras have been installed along Mitchell Freeway.Getty ImagesWA Police Minister Reece Whitby said a second set of cameras were recently installed at Karrinyup Road in addition to cameras previously announced at Vincent Street, both of which are set to become operational this long weekend.The two new fixed safety camera locations add to the existing fixed cameras on the Kwinana Freeway, as well as a fleet of eight camera trailers operating across the state.Between February 2025, when the cameras were first introduced and May, rates of detected seatbelt offences dropped by more than 85 per cent, mobile phone offences have dropped by 88 per cent, and speeding has fallen by 51 per cent.Whitby said there would be a six-month grace period to help people in the northern suburbs change their behaviour on the road.“So, as of Monday, those cameras will be active, so if you do the wrong thing in terms of a seat belt or a mobile phone, you will get a notice in the mail issued to you,” he said.“But you will not be fined, you’ll be warned about your behaviour, and there’ll be six months of grace leading up to the end of November to help people in the northern suburbs of Perth that are on the Mitchell Freeway to change their behaviour.”However, Whitby added that the new cameras would also be able to detect speeding offences – which would not be included under the grace period.“We won’t give you a break there, but in terms of seat belts and mobile phones, which is the new aspect that safety cameras are detecting on a very broad scale, there will be that period of grace of six months,” he said.WA’s use of artificial intelligence cameras has come under fire after it was revealed that several infringements were issued multiple times, sometimes within the same day.Whitby said he didn’t have an exact figure for the number of infringements that had been waived after drivers challenged the fines.“But I can tell you that in terms of appeal requests, it’s under 4 per cent of all the infringements that have been issued,” he said.“In about 60 per cent of the cases they’re successful.“So it’s a small amount, but in fact most people, more than half, are successful.”WA Police Superintendent Michael Dalla-Costa said officers would be out in force over the long weekend.“The public can expect the police to be anywhere, anytime,” he said.“It’s not just your traditional roads that we’re going to be focused on.“We use intelligence to deploy our people everywhere, so they can expect to be surprised if they think they’re going to avoid detection over the weekend.“You can expect increased patrols, increased random breath testing, and drug testing, targeted operations, and camera deployments.“If you take risks, there’s a higher chance this weekend that you will be caught.”From our partners