A woman drives with both hands on the wheel. Her phone sits face-down on her lap. No officer pulls her over. No lights flash. Weeks later, a $1,251 ticket arrives in the mail. The evidence: a single frame from a Camera surveillance app. The charge: phone use while driving.
Automated camera companies market their devices as automated license plate readers — tools for catching stolen cars, flagging warrants, and aiding serious investigations.
Sold as a Crime Tool. Used as a Fine Machine.
The (Australian) law actually says you can’t have your phone out (face up/down doesn’t matter). And I think the law is consistent with other common sense traffic safety:
Phone use has been shown to be equivalent (or in some cases, far worse) to driving over the BAC limit.