Ohio state senator caught in car in meeting for ban on distracted driving

Technology is a great help, but not if you want to fake your sincerity for a cause, and a senator has recently when he was caught using a virtual background of his home to hide the fact that he was driving during a Zoom meeting — on the same day a bill to ban distracted driving was introduced.

Andrew Brenner, an Ohio state senator, decided to use a virtual background of his home office during a Zoom meeting to hide the fact that he was, in reality, driving.

The footage of the meeting was live-streamed to the public with the state’s controlling board. Brenner was spotted wearing a seat belt, which gave away his act.

Glimpses of the road were also spotted behind him and he was also constantly looking at the road and turning his head while changing lanes — which is a good habit while driving but not when attending a Zoom meeting.

The Republican, who actively took part in the conversation and answered all questions directed towards him, claims he "wasn't distracted" during the meeting and was paying attention.

"I wasn’t distracted. I was paying attention to the driving and listening to it [the meeting]," he was quoted by local media. "And I've actually been on other calls, numerous calls while driving. Phone calls for the most part, but on video calls, I'm not paying attention to the video. To me, it’s like a phone call."

However, some social media users could not stop trolling the senator for this act as his faux pas coincided with the introduction of the bill to penalise unsafe driving.

"Distracted driving is a choice that must be as culturally unacceptable as drunk driving is today, and strengthening our current laws will lead to more responsible driving," state's Republican governor, Mike DeWine said.