Stay off your smartphones while on the road, drivers are warned

A 24-year-old man in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, drove his car into West Lake after accidentally stepping on the accelerator while searching for his phone in the vehicle.

The man said he had been playing with his mobile phone while driving last month but suddenly dropped the handset, according to the Ministry of Public Security's Traffic Management Bureau.

He escaped from the car through a window and swam back to shore, the bureau said.