A Ohio politician's fake zoom background was apparent during online sessions while driving. Despite the obvious zoom virtual background and his seatbelts on, he attempted to deny that he was actually on the road during the call.
Ohio Politician's Fake Zoom Background
Andrew Brenner, a first-term Republican state senator, engaged in the Ohio Controlling Board's brief meeting via video call with his peers, the rest of whom called in from their homes.
Godwin's law-invoking Brenner, on the other hand, called from his parked car, but after tinkering with his phone and activating an office-like background, Brenner started driving, reported the Drive.
The presence of a seatbelt and the frequent diversion of his eyes would have exposed his primary focus even if his background's cropping blurred his moving surroundings.
Forgetting to unmute before talking, appearing on camera while looking like a mess, and using backgrounds that don't mask your disheveled housemates are all examples of zoom bad habits.
Or, as in the case of Brenner, using a background that revealed he was juggling his duties as a lawmaker while driving.
If he hadn't heard about a bill introduced in the Ohio Senate the same day proposing tighter limits on impaired driving, the state Senator's video call behavior would have gone almost overlooked.
House Bill 283, should it be approved, would prevent almost all use of electronics while driving, and the lawmaker, who activated his camera while on the move before switching it off within 20 seconds, would be in infringement of the bill, noted Ohio Legislature Government.
When he was questioned about his behavior, he has been defensive. The Ohio politician's fake zoom background was there to see.
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He was quoted by The Columbus Dispatch.
"I wasn't affected in any way. I was concentrating on the road and listening to the meeting."
"When driving, I've actually been on other calls, several calls. For the most part, I pay attention to the video on phone calls, so I don't pay attention to the video-on-video calls. Its like a phone call to me."
Senator Brenner may or may not think of a video call the same way he thinks of a phone call, but he certainly didn't treat it that way. No one ever looks down at their phone while playing music unless they're doing something else that they shouldn't be doing when driving.
The Senator will be in trouble under the "Hands-Free Ohio" bill, noted Governor Ohio Gov.
This bill will make it unlawful for Ohioans to write, send, or read texts, watch or record videos, take pictures, type into a computer, or stream, among other device-related behaviors, under a law proposed by the state's Republican governor last year. Drivers in Ohio who are involved in a crash while using a system will face a penalty close to those enforced on impaired drivers.
But the Ohio politician's fake zoom background was always evident.
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