A viral TikTok has been framed in the US as an AI enforcement blunder, but the truth is more complicated, raising questions about automated policing.

When TikToker Krista Campbell opened her mail, she found an AUD$1,251 (US$820) fine after an AI-assisted roadside camera photographed what appeared to be a smartphone resting on her lap.

Campbell insists she wasn’t using her phone. In the image attached to the notice, both of her hands appear to be on the steering wheel.

"Just got a $1,250 ticket in the mail for having my phone on my lap face down and both hands on the steering wheel. Pretty cool."

TikToker Krista Campbell

The clip quickly spread across TikTok and other social platforms (and countries) where many commenters argued that the fine showed AI had overstepped.

“This is what happens when AI is allowed to write tickets without human intervention,” one person wrote.

“She had her phone in her lap. She must have been looking at it at some point.”

social media commenter

Others were unconvinced: “She had her phone in her lap. She must have been looking at it at some point.”

As the video went viral, many reports drew comparisons with the US, where distracted driving laws generally focus on actively holding or using a mobile phone.

But Campbell’s wasn’t a US incident – it happened in Queensland, Australia, where the rules are among the toughest in the world.

Australian motorist smartphone rules “toughest in the world”

Under Queensland law, drivers are prohibited from holding a phone or having it rest on any part of their body – including their lap – even if the device isn’t being used.

The state's mobile-phone detection system uses AI to identify suspected violations before images are reviewed by an authorized officer.

They do not use the Flock-brand of license plate reader (LPR) cameras, as many earlier reports stated, but which Flock later rebutted.

While humans remain in the loop, the territory’s Camera Detected Offense Program (CDOP) has not been without its controversies, and cases reveal that automated enforcement systems still produce mistakes.

One 79-year-old Brisbane pensioner was fined AUD$1,000 in 2023 for being the owner of a car in which a passenger was not wearing a seatbelt correctly. She was adamant that the car in the series of images was not her vehicle and that she never met the people pictured.

Later that year, a review was commissioned into the camera program after Queensland discovered a design fault in the camera offense system that incorrectly applied license points for some passenger seatbelt offenses for two years. It is thought that almost 2000 motorists were affected.

Beyond Australia

Campbell’s story resonated so widely because to many readers, it looked like AI had punished someone for doing something that wouldn’t necessarily be illegal where they live.

In the US, most distracted driving laws prohibit holding or actively using a phone, but few explicitly ban simply having one resting on your lap.

In the UK, the law similarly centers on using a handheld device, although drivers can still face prosecution if police believe they weren’t in proper control of the vehicle. To tackle distracted driving, the EU is making it mandatory for every new car sold in the bloc to have a camera aimed at the driver’s face.

The same regulation will be introduced in the US next year.

While Campbell’s viral TikTok video may not expose a legal loophole, it does show that AI is increasingly being used to police our roads and that the cameras, like humans, don’t always make the right call.