Sydney driver cops $337 fine because passenger was using FaceTime

Sydney motorist Sheree Panetta was shocked when she copped a $337 fine for breaking a road rule many people would never guess was an offence.

Sydney motorist Sheree Panetta was shocked when she copped a $337 fine for a passenger using FaceTime.

Some road rules are pretty clear-cut. Don’t run a red light. Don’t speed. Give the “thank you” hand signal when someone lets you in (not a legal rule per se, but you should bloody well do it).

But others can take you by surprise, as one unfortunate Sydneysider found.

Sheree Panetta said she copped a $337 fine after one of her passengers was video-calling while in the front seat next to her.

“Tell your passengers to stay off their phones while you are driving, I got fined because my passenger was on FaceTime,” she wrote.

“Honestly didn’t know that was a thing.”

Sheree Panetta said she copped a $337 fine after one of her passengers was video-calling while in the front seat.

The post went viral, with over 11,000 surprised people sharing it, and over 1500 expressing their shock in the comments, slamming it as “absolutely ridiculous” and a “joke”.

“It’s a passenger! Not the god damn driver, it’s not a legal distraction if the driver isn’t looking at the screen,” wrote commenter Anthony Holmes.

“Soon your (sic) gonna have fines for talking in the car,” said Aleki Mataipule.

“They better make driving with kids illegal because those back seat fights are the most distracting!” joked Karissa Joy.

Sheree’s fine indicated that she had been penalised for the offence: “Drive vehicle with TV/VDU image likely to distract another driver.”

The offence is listed under NSW General Driving Offences on the Roads and Maritime Services website.