An opposition member of the ACT's parliament has found himself in more TikTok trouble after livestreaming himself while driving in Canberra's south at the weekend.
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Mark Parton, who is the opposition's transport spokesman, will receive a formal caution after he referred himself to the police.
Mr Parton answered questions and provided live commentary of his drive along Drakeford Drive while glancing between the road and the camera, a recording of the livestream posted online shows.
"This is the go. This is the go. This is the go with the parkway. You get one red light, you're going to get all of them. You're going to get all of them. At this stage of the game, I've had every red light on Drakeford Drive," Mr Parton says in the footage.
The video shows Mr Parton, who said he was on his way to collect a birthday cake for his daughter, reading questions while driving.
The territory's road rules make it illegal to use a mobile device while driving unless the device is secured in a mount and the driver does not need to touch the device in any way.
Mr Parton has apologised for the incident.
"While driving on the weekend I attempted a hands-free live-stream to my social media. This was a mistake and I apologise for this error of judgement. I regret my actions and fully support police efforts to crack down on driver distraction," Mr Parton said in a statement.
An spokeswoman for ACT Policing said a 54-year-old man attended Tuggeranong Police station on Monday to self-report the use of a mobile device while driving.
"The man was reminded of the dangers of mobile phone use while driving a vehicle. He will receive a formal caution in the coming days," the spokeswoman said.
"ACT Policing reminds all road users that the use of mobile devices while driving greatly increases the chances of a collision. A car travelling at 100km/h moves about 28 metres per second. Looking at a mobile phone for three seconds will mean a driver is not watching the road for almost 90 metres."
The spokeswoman said people who are caught using mobile devices illegally can receive a $599 fine and four demerit points.
A spokesman for Transport Minister Chris Steel declined to comment on the incident.
This is the not the first time Mr Parton, a former radio host elected in 2016, has run into trouble by using TikTok.
Mr Parton was kicked out of the Legislative Assembly in July last year after he refused to remove a video on the platform that was filmed inside the parliament building against broadcast rules.
Speaker Joy Burch reprimanded Mr Parton after he posted a video suggesting the speaker was "destroying democracy" by enforcing rules against filming inside the Legislative Assembly building.
Mr Parton was fined $1000 in January in a separate incident after the MLA "unwittingly breached" Western Australia's COVID-19 border restrictions.
Canberra residents were free to travel to Western Australia at the time as long as they had not spent anytime in NSW in the previous 14 days.
Mr Parton broke the rules after he had been in Queanbeyan to call the Boxing Day races.
"To be honest, it simply hadn't occurred to me that I had 'traveled to NSW' when I flew into WA this week. Queanbeyan is just 10kms from my house and at the end of the day I tend to consider it as a suburb of Canberra," Mr Parton said at the time.
"When this came to my attention today, I immediately sought advice from the relevant authorities and am quarantining until I receive a response on next steps.
"The crazy thing is that we cancelled New Years plans in Sydney to enable my WA travel. I feel pretty stupid."
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Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
