Woman Gets Fine for Eating Ice Cream While Driving, Police Thought She Was Texting

In November 2020, Michelle Course from Melbourne, Australia, received a fine of AU $500 (approx. $360) for driving her Hyundai Tucson while using her mobile phone. Which she thought was outrageous, because, at the time, she was enjoying her favorite ice cream, Magnum Ego.

She told A Current Affair: “There's no way I could be eating my Magnum Ego, holding my phone and driving at the same time.”

Despite telling that to the police, she still received a fine for it. When they pulled her over, she showed proof to the police that she still had her ice cream wrapper and stick, and a receipt showing that she purchased the ice cream merely six minutes prior to them pulling her over for thinking she was using a "rose-gold iPhone." But it didn’t matter, and she was still fined.

While eating isn’t illegal, it’s still discouraged while driving. But given that her fine was related to her phone, she didn’t feel like it was fair and began building her case against the charge. She contacted Victoria Police for their dashcam vision and requested phone records so she could show that she wasn’t on her phone.

Her hard work paid off in the end. All the charges were dropped and she doesn’t have to pay the fine anymore. "Common sense has prevailed and the fine has been dropped," she revealed in late December 2021. "I was contacted a few days before the court date and I was very grateful that the system had worked and that justice had come about."

She adds, "There's no hard feelings. He was just trying to do his job and I have a lot of respect for the police force and what they do."

I guess the lesson here is: don’t ice cream and drive.