Dayton Mayor joined video call while driving her personal car
Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, who is running in the Democratic primary for governor, joined in a video conference call while driving her personal vehicle last month.
The Ohio Republican Party shared a brief clip of the zoom call with the U.S. Conference of Mayors in which Whaley can be seen behind the wheel wearing sunglasses and her seatbelt.
The full clip shows Whaley joined the meeting by car for less than two minutes, dropped out and then rejoined for its conclusion from an office in her home.
“I saw Mayor Whaley driving around,” remarked Quinton Lucas, mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, who ran the meeting. When Whaley popped back into the video, Lucas said “You’re parked!”
Whaley campaign spokeswoman Courtney Rice said “It’s clear from the full, unedited video that Mayor Whaley was simply listening to a conference call and not participating. We wish that the Ohio Republican Party would pay attention to issues that matter to Ohioans like the worsening pandemic and the largest corruption scandal in the country - in which they played a major role - rather than pushing nonsense like this.”
In May, state Sen. Andrew Brenner, R-delaware, attended a State Controlling Board meeting while driving his car and wearing his seatbelt. He participated in votes while driving with a virtual background on display. He denied being distracted and said he listening to the meeting, similar to listening to a phone call.
House Bill 283, introduced in May, calls for a ban on writing, sending or reading texts, viewing videos or taking photos, live streaming and using applications while driving.
It would also make holding or using an electronic device while driving a primary offense, which would permit police to pull the driver over. Currently, texting while driving is a secondary offense for drivers over 18, which means police must witness another moving violation before pulling the driver over.
The legislation would allow for exceptions for voice-operated or handsfree use and emergency situations.
Previous efforts to make Ohio’s distracted driving laws tougher have failed to gain traction in the state legislature.
Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.