In January this year, the Federation of Trade Unions (FTU) Kwok Wai Keung was found driving while meeting with Zoom during the Legislative Council Housing Affairs Committee, allegedly violating the law of careless driving. A similar incident occurred in Ohio, where a senator was kicked for using the virtual background of his office to conceal that he was actually driving a car when he used Zoom for a meeting.
Republican Sen. Andrew Brenner (R-Ohio) attended a meeting of the Ohio Controlling Board last Monday to discuss adjustments to the state’s budget via Zoom, and initially appeared to be sitting in a parked car before suddenly going offline a few minutes later. He later reappeared with the backdrop changed to an interior filled with artwork, furniture and plants, suggesting he had moved from his car to his office to continue the meeting.
But when he answered questions, he kept staring ahead instead of looking into the camera, and when he kept turning his head during the meeting, it already made people think something was different. Later, when he was choked in the background, he was seen wearing a seatbelt, and it was revealed that he was driving while in a meeting, so he kept turning his head to check the road conditions.
Brenner was caught driving while in a meeting, but denied that he was driving unsafely, “I wasn’t distracted, I was focused on driving and listening (to the meeting). I did take a number of phone calls while driving, mostly incoming calls and also video calls, but I didn’t watch the screen, it was like a phone call to me.”
The footage came to light Monday via the state’s public broadcasters, ironically the same day the Ohio legislature was introducing a bill to crack down on unsafe driving.
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