When a Gungahlin woman received a hefty $548 fine and three demerit points for apparently using her mobile phone while driving, she immediately knew something was wrong.
But she never imagined the culprit would be a lunchtime tray of sushi.
Vanessa, who has withheld her second name, is fighting an infringement issued by Access Canberra in the ACT Magistrates Court.
She is one of the 21 Canberrans this year alone who have taken their challenges of traffic fines to court.
Vanessa was caught by a traffic camera on Gungahlin Drive in Mitchell on the afternoon of November 1, 2025.
"I have absolutely no need to use my phone in my car. I have Bluetooth voice activation. Why would I hold my phone?" Vanessa said. Her mobile phone can be partially seen charging in the car console.
The 55-year-old driver is determined to prove the automated infringement system got it wrong.
Days after receiving the fine, Vanessa spent hours ruminating over what the traffic camera had captured and what Access Canberra had determined to be a phone.
"I have been wracking my brain as to what this could be. I originally thought it was a pair of jeans I have with a patch, but reviewing it, it isn't the jeans," she said.
"But I had a thought. What if it is food? So, I went through my bank statements and saw I had purchased sushi for lunch. It fits perfectly with being a sushi box."
Despite the Infringement Office having access to three high-resolution photographs captured by the traffic camera, which are not permitted to be viewed by penalised motorists for unspecified administrative reasons, no definitive answer to the object pictured has been established.
"You can clearly see an object that does initially look like a phone, so I would be disappointed if the camera didn't flag it," Vanessa said.
However, after Access Canberra rejected her explanation and upheld the traffic notice, the Canberran was left with no choice. Determined not to pay $548 for an "erroneous fine," she decided to take action.
"I am going to fight this one," she said.
In mid-March, Vanessa was prepared to appear before the ACT Magistrates Court for the offence of "use of mobile phone - hand held", but the pre-hearing session was cancelled.
Instead, the ACT Court issued a "notice to the accused of an adjournment", pushing the pre-hearing date back to October 20, 2026.
"What a nightmare. I get why this one was flagged, but the whole process must be clogging the court system terribly," Vanessa said.
Despite the hearing being five months away, the Canberra driver remains determined to fight the charge that she strongly believes "was a mistake".
