Victorian police have a new tool for catching unsafe and unfocused drivers – a camera with a very long lens.

The tripod-mounted cameras will be used to target drivers who are not paying attention or not wearing a seatbelt, with the large zoom lens allowing police to spot people long before they realise they are being watched.

The new cameras are part of a push to lay fines on mobile phone users, passengers without seat belts, and motorists driving carelessly by applying make-up or eating at the wheel.

“We received the technology last week. We have trained our members and we are now deploying the technology across Victoria,” Assistant Commissioner Robert Hill has told News Corp media outlet The Herald Sun.

“We know motorists are quick to put their phone down and put their seatbelt on when they see a police car. With this long lens camera, we will see them first.

“[But] we don’t need to actually see them holding their mobile phone for them to be breaching the road rules,” he said.

“So if someone is clearly distracted by taking their eyes off the road and looking at their mobile phone on their lap, whether it be texting or whatever, they could still be infringed for offences such as using a hand held mobile phone while driving, careless driving or failing to have proper control of a vehicle.”

The Victorian Government claims in recent safety campaigns that texting increases the risk of a crash up to 15 times for everyday drivers, and over 20 times for truck drivers.

It says 80 per cent of crashes and 65 per cent of near crashes are the result of driver inattention immediately before the incident.

Other figures say around half of all truck drivers killed in the last three years were without a seat belt.

Reports claim the long lenses may just be the first new step taken as technology enhances crime-fighting.

Victorian speed camera commissioner Gordon Lewis has recommended that the State Government look to the UK’s new device – cameras mounted to telescopic poles on the roof of police cars.

“I would like the State Government to consider their introduction here,” Mr Lewis told reporters.

“Driving is a full time occupation, not a part time responsibility to be squeezed in while steering a mobile telephone box.

“Using a mobile phone while driving and failing to wear a seat belt are already offences. What I propose is a process designed to assist in the detection of these offences.

“I believe I speak for the great majority of motorists when I say that road users are utterly intolerant of the menace created by drivers who are either distracted by the use of a mobile phone or, perhaps worse, devoting their attention to texting.

“Once the telescopic camera is deployed the operator can view oncoming traffic at a distance, with the ability to pivot the camera about the telescopic arm as well as zoom in to get a clear view of what is happening inside the vehicle.

“I am not alone when I say I am sick and tired of having distracted drivers immobile at green lights in front of me, or threatening to rear-end me, because of lack of attention,” he said.

The British pole-mounted traffic cameras are controlled from within the car by a joystick and small screen. The camera can rotate a full 360 degrees, extend to a height of nearly 4 metres and is fitted with a zoom lens.