Top cop admits to road safety breach
South Australia’s top cop for road safety has admitted receiving an expiation notice after taking a selfie while riding his bike.
Superintendent Shane Johnson, who is in charge of SAPOL’s Traffic Services Branch, has been issued an expiation notice for using a mobile phone while riding a bicycle.
Fronting the media this afternoon, Johnson said that on October 18 last year, he took a selfie at the end of a six-and-a-half-hour, 202-kilometre bike ride with friends.
“I was about 100 metres from my home address, and riding it just a few kilometres an hour in a back street with no other vehicles or persons around when I took my phone from my back pocket and I took a selfie picture whilst winding down from that ride just before arriving home,” he said.
Johnson said that there was no excuse for his lapse of judgment and that no one in the state was immune from road traffic laws.
He said the matter was now subject to an investigation under the Police Complaints and Discipline Act 2016, adding that he would accept the outcome of that investigation.
“Every road user needs to remain alert and aware of the rules when using mobile phones, not just for their own safety, but for the safety of all road users,” he said.
“This incident reinforces that everyone can have a lapse in judgment, including myself.
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“This is precisely why police are continually reinforcing road safety messages and urging people to remain vigilant and alert on the roads.”
According to the Department for Infrastructure and Transport, as of December 2025, there had been close to 80,000 expiation notices sent after mobile detection cameras were introduced.
Penalties include fines of $573 plus a $105 victims of crime levy and three demerit points.
All funds raised from the fines are returned to the Community Road Safety Fund, which delivers safety improvements and education programs.
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