A YOUNG mother broadcast herself behind the wheel on Facebook for 12 minutes – driving so badly she would have run up an estimated 60 penalty points.
The woman does not wear a seatbelt and even allows a young child to clamber in the back without a seatbelt. She picks up her mobile phone on numerous occasions and passes a drink to the child in the back.
Throughout, she looks away from the road to check her appearance on the screen of her mobile, from which is is broadcasting the trip on Facebook Live.
Road safety campaigners accused the woman, from Edinburgh, of showing a “nauseating” disregard for safety, including that of a baby sat next to her in a rear-facing chair.
Any of the woman’s friends would have been able to watch her antics live and the video remained on her page where it could also be viewed by friends but not the general public. One viewer was so appalled they decided to pass the 12 minutes of footage to a road safety campaign website.
During the video, the woman picks up and checks her mobile on at least seven occasions.
She does not wear a seatbelt at any point. More disturbingly, a young child in the “bucket seats” of the sporty convertible is completely unrestrained.
The woman takes a drink, removes the lid, and passes it to the child in the back, all while still behind the wheel.
Her eyes are also off the road for numerous periods when she is looking into the camera, talking into the camera and to her kids and fixing her hair.
The motoring offences in the video could be enough to get the woman banned from driving almost five times over, as well as a fine of around £3,500.
It is unclear which road she is driving on but the camera does appear to show that the video ends at the Fort Kinnaird retail park in Edinburgh.
An RAC road safety spokesman said: “Any law-abiding driver will be shocked by this video.
“The driver is clearly a road safety nightmare and an accident waiting to happen. The video captures so many illegal mobile phone activities from texting at the wheel to a full on video call and is a stark illustration of how distracting a phone can be by absorbing all of her focus when clearly she should be concentrating on the road ahead.
“You cannot help but be nauseated by the blatant lack of regard for her own child’s safety.
“It begs the question whether the new tougher penalties for using a handheld phone at the wheel are sufficient and whether the message will ever get through to hard core users who consider themselves to be beyond the reach of the law.
“We are calling on drivers to make a promise not to use their handheld phone when driving at www.BePhoneSmart.UK and to share it with friends and family.”
A spokesman for SWD Media, who obtained the video, said: “This woman has a duty of care to her children and she has failed them terribly here by not ensuring they are safely strapped in a car seat, nor is she setting a good example by wearing one herself.
“Live streaming and playing with your phone whilst driving creates a serious distraction that could have caused a serious accident here and injuries to driver and passengers that weren’t belted up.
“Hopefully the Police take action, and I suspect she may be getting the bus shortly once dealt with by the courts.”
The woman who filmed the video today appeared to claim that the footage of her driving had been leaked out of jealousy.
She said: “I know [name removed] has reported me. I hope she will get well soon. Jealousy is a disease.
She added: “Whoever is trying to bring you down is already below you.”
