There are just six fixed mobile phone detection cameras currently switched on - none of them are in the Illawarra.
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But drivers in the Illawarra and South Coast are being targeted by a pair of transportable detection cameras.
Transport for NSW began rolling out the mobile phone detection cameras in December.
The department is aiming to set up 45 cameras over the next three years.
A spokesman for Transport and Roads Minister Andrew Constance said six fixed cameras have been switched on - all in Sydney.
There are also two transportable cameras moved to various locations around the state.
The government will not divulge the exact locations, however, in the first days of the rollout - from December 4 to 7 - 126 drivers were caught by a transportable camera at Nowra using their phone while driving.
READ MORE: No signs for mobile phone detection cameras
One of the portable cameras has also been spotted on the M1 Princes Motorway north of Wollongong.
To avoid predictability, the cameras will spent a different number of days at each site.
Any driver caught by the cameras will receive a warning letter - listing the location of the offence - until March next year.
After that point, they will cop a $344 fine and five demerit points - or 10 during periods of double demerits.
"Around 500 drivers a day are getting pinged by these cameras doing the wrong thing," Mr Constance said.
"With double demerits starting [last] Friday we need drivers to get the message and get off the phone, otherwise they risk killing themselves or someone innocent on our roads."
Meanwhile, with motorists set to head off on Christmas holidays, work on the Albion Park Rail bypass has been stopped.
The site closed on December 23 and will not reopen until Sunday, January 5.
Work on the Berry to Bomaderry Princes Highway upgrade will cease for the same period of time.
With bushfire activity on both the north and south coasts, Transport for NSW is encouraging motorists to install the NSW Rural Fire Service Fires Near Me and Live Traffic NSW apps on their mobile phones to get the latest information about road closures.
Delays of more than 15 minutes southbound through Albion Park Rail and more than half an hour through Nowra are expected.
Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
