Using a Cell Phone on a Horse and Carriage Allowed

An Australian judge has thrown out of court an attempted prosecution against a driver who was caught using his cell phone while driving. The case was notable as the vehicle being driven was a horse and carriage, not a motor car. The Melbourne Magistrates Court was told that police stopped coachman Dean Crichton while his carriage was travelling at about 2mph in Melbourne in May.

The Herald Sun newspaper said police breath-tested Crichton for alcohol after he was caught with a phone in one hand and the reins in the other as he drove tourists in his two-horse carriage.

Magistrate Frank Jones said he believed Crichton was technically guilty of the offence but added that he thought a horse and carriage brought character to Melbourne's streets.

"The sooner you get back back up on your horse and cart and get the tourism dollar circulating in Melbourne the better," The Herald Sun quoted Jones as saying.

Crichton had pleaded guilty, and his lawyer had argued that the phone call was a business call and it had not been possible to slow the horse down before the call would have hung up."

Posted to the site on 30th September 2003