A BRAZEN motorist has been caught on camera with her mobile phone propped up on the dashboard watching a video – while she sits in heavy traffic.
The clip was filmed by a disbelieving Paul Edwards during the Monday morning rush hour in Eccles, Greater Manchester.
Paul posted the video to a Facebook group dedicated to bad driving with the caption: “Spotted this driver yesterday watching videos while driving. I was the passenger in the works van.”
The clip begins with a shot of a black Vauxhall car sitting in traffic.
The camera zooms into the steering wheel of the Vauxhall and a white smart phone can be clearly seen placed horizontally behind the steering wheel on the dashboard.
Video can also be seen to be playing on the device before the camera zooms out again.
The Vauxhall driver then lets off their brakes and the car begins moving forward, following the traffic with the video still playing on the mobile.
Speaking today, Paul said: “I was on the way to work, with road works in and around Manchester, rush hour is a nightmare.
“It’s normal to see people on the phones while they drive, some try and hide it, some don’t care, and use the phone in full view.
“But this one driver did catch my eye. Never see anyone watching videos on a phone while driving.”
He added: “Yes it is annoying. Their attention is not on the road and could cause an accident, or even worse, knock someone over, who might be simply crossing the road.”
Facebook users were critical of the driver’s brash use of their smartphone.
Mo Arif wrote: “Report it to the authorities, they shouldn’t be allowed on roads.”
Kip M Taylor commented: “I see this every night from my coach, on M1. Every f****** night mate.”
Ricky Oleary remarked: “Would of got out of van and smashed his window in.”
RAC spokesman Simon Williams said: “This is frightening to watch. The distraction of having a video playing in front of you while driving is dangerous beyond belief.
“Being stuck in slow-moving traffic is clearly frustrating, but it doesn’t give you permission to watch Netflix or YouTube as you still have the responsibility of being in control of a vehicle and that means being alert to what’s going on around you.”
Inspector Danny Byrne from Greater Manchester Police’s traffic team said: “It is illegal to use a mobile phone while driving even to watch TV and there is specific legislation that prohibits drivers from watching TV while driving.
“Greater Manchester Police continue to tackle those drivers who flout the law and put themselves and more importantly others at risk with their selfish actions”
“Nothing is so important that it cannot wait. Put your phone away and give full attention to the road while driving, You might just save a life.”
In 2016, a lorry driver was jailed for ten years for killing a family while scrolling through music on his phone while driving.
Tomasz Kroker crashed into the family’s stationary car at a speed of 50mph, killing a mother and her three children.
Tracy Houghton, 45, her sons Ethan, 13, and Josh, 11, and stepdaughter Aimee Goldsmith, also 11, died in the crash on the A34, near Newbury, in Berkshire, on 10 August, 2016.
Last September, a lorry driver was sentenced to five years in jail for a fatal crash where he was repeatedly checking his dash mounted mobile phone.
David Shields, 34, crashed into missionary worker, Yvonne Blackman, in a line of traffic in Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway, last February.
He pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and was also disqualified from driving for seven and a half years.
Using a hand held phone while driving can get you six penalty points and a £200 fine.
You will lose your licence if you passed your test in the past two years.
You can also be taken to court where you could be banned from driving and recieve a maximum fine of £1000.
