A man has been fined VND8.2 million ($360) after a video captured him driving over a bridge in Saigon steering with his foot while talking on his cellphone.
The video was shared on the internet two weeks ago, showing Nguyen Hoang Khanh, 37, driving across Phu My Bridge at high speed with his left foot on the wheel while sitting back and talking on the phone.
The person taking the video can be heard screaming at the driver.
Khanh told the police that he had just needed to stretch his legs and that he had not meant to be reckless.
“I can't feel my legs after a long drive so I just put them on the wheel for a while,” he said.
Police said his act was “extremely dangerous” and had threatened many lives.
The act of driving with legs is punishable by between VND7-8 million in Vietnam, where traffic deaths kill an average of one person every hour.
A law effective from the beginning of this year imposes fines of VND600,000 to VND800,000 on car and truck drivers caught using their phones while driving. Before, only motorbike drivers were fined for the violation.
The law was put in place after several deadly crashes, including one in October 2014 when a bus driver in the central province of Nghe An killed a family of three on a motorbike. Police found the driver had been talking on his cellphone at the time of the crash.