Distracted Driving Hearing Takes A Bizarre And Unbelievable Turn

In the last year and a half you may have found yourself on a Zoom call every now and again. In fact, much of our business has been done on Zoom since March of last year. You may have had to use a fake background to cover up a messy house in the picture behind you or because you don’t want people to see your kids on their computers while you’re on a call. It’s become common place, but during a recent hearing on distracted driving an Ohio Senator took the Zoom background to a new low and it is appalling.

The hearing was being held while the Senator was in the car. At the beginning of the call you can clearly see the Senator sitting in a stationary car. As the hearing progresses the Senator flips on a virtual background for his Zoom and then can be seen driving the car. The seatbelt in the picture is a clear giveaway that he is still in his car and he is still driving. This is the ultimate display of distracted driving and an unbelievably poor piece of judgement by an elected official at the state level in Ohio.

Take a peak at the video here.

We have covered many times on this site the dangers of distracted driving and how it can lead to a New Haven auto accident. One of the distracted driving behaviors that we have left off previous posts was participating in a meeting via Zoom because, frankly, we didn’t think it was necessarily something that anyone would do. We know better now. Here are some rules of thumb if you need to take a meeting on Zoom while you’re in the car.

• Pull the car over and only participate in the meeting when you are at a complete stop.
• Do not try to join the meeting while you’re still driving.
• If the meeting is going to be longer then just a few minutes, make sure you are pulled off to somewhere that is safe and is not impeding other traffic on the road.

A connected world is one that is convenient and can sometimes make being engaged in your work, school, or family life easier, but it also has the potential, if abused, to make our world more dangerous. Using common sense is the best thing you can do to ensure you’re safe and free from distractions when you are driving.

When an accident happens and you suspect that the driver might have been distracted by something, contact our office immediately and one of our experienced attorneys will review your case and work to protect your long-term interests.