WA Police Desperate for $$ ?? Mobile Phone fines !!!!

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Ross Gundry was fined $250 and gained demerit points for using his mobile phone while at the reins of a horse-drawn carriage

The passengers on board a horse-drawn carriage ride in the Swan Valley last month got more excitement than the brochure advertised when the flashing lights of a police motorcycle pulled them over.
Swan Valley Wagon Trails operator Ross Gundry was at the reins when he was pulled over on West Swan Road and fined $250 for being on his mobile phone while operating the wagon.
Mr Gundry said when the police officer told him why he was being pulled over, he questioned him, as he believed the law to cover motor vehicles, not horse drawn vehicles.
"He told me that the law changed last year changing to cover all vehicles, not just motor vehicles. I didn't know it'd changed," he said.

Mr Gundry said what annoyed him the most was that he was fined the first time he was pulled over.
He said a warning would have been sufficient given he was not aware of the new law which he said most people would not know about.
Mr Gundry has been travelling up and down West Swan Road for 14 years and said he usually had his mobile phone in his top pocket and never had any second thoughts about answering it when it rang.
"I travel at about two to five kilometres an hour," he said.
Mr Gundry said his passengers were pretty shocked at what happened.
"They thought it was pretty ridiculous," he said.
Mr Gundry said as well as the $250 fine, he had also been given demerit points.
He said he had spoken to his lawyer about the matter but was not sure if he would be able to get out of paying the fine.
This matter follows the cancellation of a similar fine given to a pram-pushing mum last year who was initially fined $250 for talking on her mobile phone while "in charge of a vehicle" before the fine was overturned.
Detective acting inspector of the traffic enforcement division Gary Nicolau said the law dealing with using a mobile phone while driving had recently changed to include those driving or riding an animal.
"Driver distraction is a big issue," he said.
"When you are talking on a mobile phone you can't be focused properly on what is happening on the road, it doesn't matter what speed you are travelling at."