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1 month ago
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A Sydney motorist has warned drivers of a little-known law that could cost them five demerit points and $544 after police confronted him for using his phone while parked.
Fred Khoury had been pulled over by police for failing to indicate while changing lanes, before he touched his phone as he sat in the car by the side of the road.
He posted video on TikTok of the incident which happened in May 2022, and shows the officer speaking to Khoury through the driver's side window of his vehicle.
'You're in a motor vehicle. You can't use the mobile phone,' the officer said.
Khoury fired back at the officer claiming the car 'is not in operation' while turning the ignition off.
The officer again explained: 'The phone was in your hand and the car was running. You cannot use the mobile phone while the car's running'.
Khoury argued with the officer that his car was parked and questioned whether it was an offence to use a phone while in a parked vehicle.
'Yes, you cannot operate a mobile phone while you're operating a vehicle,' the officer said.
Sydney man Fred Khoury filmed his interaction with police after he was pulled over for failing to indicate while changing lanes. He was informed it was illegal for him to use his mobile phone despite his car being parked
'The car was still running, you took your foot off the brake and the car still moved forward.
'You can take your phone out to use your driver's licence when directed to by police but you can't just be pulling it out and waving it at the window while the car is running and you're operating a motor vehicle.'
Khoury insisted: 'I wasn't operating it bro, the car was in park.'
But the officer said the 'car was still running'.
Khoury - who admitted he was released from jail on Monday after serving three years behind bars - told Daily Mail Australia the police officer was 'abusing his power'.
'I'm just trying to better my life and they keep trying to bring me down and I'm not committing any crime so why do they have to keep harassing me,' he said.
He said he was being 'picked on' for an obvious reason: 'Coppers want to pin me for whatever they can.
'There should be better reasons for someone to be punished rather than that,' he said.
'I have recorded every interaction with police I've had while parked, thousands of them, and I've never been told that I can't use my phone while I'm parked.
‘I wasn't doing anything wrong.'
The NSW government website says under 'mobile phones and driving' that it is illegal to hold and use a mobile phone while stationary at traffic lights or stuck in traffic.
It is also illegal for a motorist to touch their phone before being instructed by a police officer to do so.
A motorist is allowed to handle their mobile phone to access their digital driver's licence once asked by a police officer.
If a driver needs to use their phone for functions - other than their driver's licence or navigation - including texting, emailing and social media they 'must be parked out of the line of traffic'.
Police told the recently released inmate that his car needed to be turned off before he could touch his phone
Illegal mobile phone use while operating a motor vehicle carries a fine of $410 - or $544 if detected in a school zone - and could incur a penalty of five demerit points.
Social media users slammed Khoury for his attitude, claiming he should know the road rules.
'Y'all know its still illegal. Y'all know nothing about laws,' one person commented.
'I got fined for this too and went to court and lost. apparently the car must be off as well,' a second person wrote.
'If the car is on you can only use the phone if the cop says it’s ok. Sorry bud, them's the rules,' a third chimed.
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