Most of us know that Australian states have a bunch of laws about using phones in cars. And it’s for a good reason: they’re distracting and most us have ended up programmed to check them every time we’re in danger of having a second to ourselves.
And thus you’ve learned to restrain yourself from doing a cheeky check of Facebook mentions while at traffic lights. But what if you’re in a drive-thru, waiting on your delicious and nutritionally-hearty meal which you definitely not regret in the minutes and days to come?
Answer: a lot of fine-money, right there.
See, the car’s still running and you’re still behind the wheel and therefore still in control of it. And with that great power comes the great legal responsibility for some spicy, finger-licking fines.
Specifically, according to Yahoo, it’ll set back a snack-seeking Sydneysider $377 and five demerit points off their license, a peckish Perthian $400 and three demerit points, a munching Melburnian $484 and four demerit points, a drive-dining Darwinian $250 and three demerit points, a hangry Hobartian $300 and three demerit points, a chowing Canberran $447 and four demerit points, and a not-necessarily-vegan Brisvegan $391 and three demerit points.
Weirdly enough, it doesn’t appear to be an offence in South Australia where checking phones in a non-moving vehicle is acceptable as long as the phone is in a mounted holder.
So provided you’re either a croweater or in for a decent commute, you can do all the in-drive-thru phonework you want.