A Vancouver cab driver has been suspended after a passenger recorded him playing a full-length movie on his dashboard.
Renee Geraghty told CTV News she hopped into a taxi in downtown Vancouver last Saturday and was surprised to see the driver running a movie on his cellphone, which was propped up near the steering wheel.
Geraghty said she asked the man if he was watching the film, and he didn't respond.
"I thought oh, he's going to turn it off, obviously, when he starts driving. And then he just didn't," she said. "We got from point A to point B with him watching a movie half the time."
The passenger pulled out her own phone to record what was happening, as well as the driver's taxi number, then complained to his employer, Black Top & Checker Cabs.
She said she never received a response.
CTV News contacted company manager Saif Ullah, who said the 53-year-old driver is suspended and will be off the job for a month. His car was spotted sitting at the Black Top lot under the Granville Street Bridge Wednesday.
"That's not acceptable," Ullah said. "Watching a video while driving, not acceptable at all."
Geraghty's footage was captured just days after a Toronto bus driver was filmed driving with his foot on the dash and eating a big of chips.
Eagle-eyed citizens are increasingly using their devices to catch distracted drivers using laptops and cellphones or, in the case of one bus driver in New Mexico, eating a burrito. The latter led to a multi-car pileup in 2014.
Vancouver police said it's vital that people use common sense while driving.
"Using their phone, watching a movie, reading a book, using their laptop behind the wheel is not a smart idea. They're putting people at risk – not just them, but cyclists, pedestrians and other road users," Sgt. Brian Montague said.
With a report from CTV Vancouver's Jon Woodward
