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German Police Stop Man With Mobile Office In Car
PolygamousRanchKid writes "Forget texting while driving. German police say they nabbed a driver who had wired his Ford station wagon with an entire mobile office. Saarland state police said Friday the 35-year-old man was pulled over for doing 130 kph (80 mph) in a 100 kph zone while passing a truck Monday. Built on a wooden frame on his passenger seat they found a laptop on a docking station tilted for easy driver access, a printer, router, wireless internet stick, WLAN antenna, and an inverter to power it all."
I've driven some long trips with a similar passenger-seat setup (minus the printer), but of course for use only while stopped. Since the police in this case had no evidence that the rig was being used while driving, the driver was ticketed only for speeding and for having unsecured items. Really, it seems like something that Skymall should offer in neater form; now I regret not picking up a surplus police cruiser computer when they were in stock at the local Goodwill.
Well, at least it wasn't "Man with mobile office in phone, stopped by police"
I didn't realize Germany had speed limits on its highways.
#DeleteChrome
He was driving on a Bundesstraße or Landstraße, where a speed limit applies (in this case, 100km/h).
The funny thing is this "Mobile Office" resembles a lot of US Police squad cars, especially those in larger cities.
Built in computers with direct access to multiple databases, GPS tracking of the car as well as nearby police cars.
automated license plate readers, more radios than you can count, video cameras, and printers for your citation.
The sad part is the cops drive while reading from and typing on these computers.
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Yeah but cops get special training to do so in a safe and (&$&$/&)(/" Carrier Lost
We don't have crime in Germany. It went out of style 35 years ago as old-fashioned.
Stephan
Is this really so uncommon in Germany that it warrants a news story?
In Germany, when you are driving a car, you are supposed to be . . . well, driving. And not texting, adjusting your make-up, fixing paper jams or spilling your hot coffee on yourself so that you can sue McDonald's. A driver may only use a cell phone if the car has a Freisprecheinrichtung (speaker phone) installed.
In the picture, the laptop on the dashboard suspiciously looks like it was installed to be used while driving. So the guy could check his email or use video chat while moving. If the setup had looked like it was only meant to be used while parked, the cops wouldn't have had any problem with it. But since there isn't any law prohibiting such a setup, the cops couldn't charge him. However, it looked like the laptop on the dashboard would obstruct his view. For that, they might have been able to ticket him.
So I would just say that his setup raises a few eyebrows. I suspect that the guy was some sort of traveling salesman who was on the road all day, and it was very convenient for him to have a full car office. But to use it while driving? Well, the cops probably gave him a harsh warning about that.
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Because it's not like this is even a fractional amount of the setup most police squad cars have (at least here in the US):
* Multiple radios, usually 2-3 from what I've seen (emergency, local police dispatch, national or state frequencies, etc.)
* A laptop on a mount
* A printer
* A shotgun
* A radar gun
* spot lights
* fancy data uplinks
What exactly would the problem be with anyone having these things in their car?
Keep in mind that "all of the above", plus what the guy in Germany had, is common fare for many US truckers (well, except the shotgun, which I believe is now illegal for a trucker to have in his cab).
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I don't know about you, but I've rarely seen a pair of officers in most cars unless we're talking about somewhere like Oakland, CA.
In the Dodge Charger squad cars, there simply isn't enough room for the electronics and a passenger - not unless the passenger is under 6' and 150lb at least. Not only do the newer cars afford barely any space, but the equipment takes up a lot. (This was much less a problem in a Vic.)
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
You watch too much TV. Its hard to have dialog in the show unless there are partners.
Seriously, the only places you see two officer cars are in areas where crime is so rampant that cops are afraid
to go alone.
Even cities that are known for two officer cars don't use that model all the time (NYC for example typically use one officer cars in the burbs). San Diego actually found it safer and more efficient to have only one officer per car.
The FBI collected information for a period from January 1960 to September 1962 and found that in American cities deploying both types of vehicles, 65% of the officers killed while on duty killed were in two-officer vehicles while only 35% were in one-officer vehicles. This statistic seems to indicate that the presence of a second officer does not guarantee personal safety. From Here
Every time a single officer is killed it becomes a big emotional issue but most departments run single officer cars in most areas for most of the time, with some exceptions for high crime cities.
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There was an episode where Homer was cooking in its car while driving. When he was about to have an accident, instead of breaking, he sent an S.O.S fax. Reality beats imagination again.
Needs a donut fryer.
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In Germany, when you are driving a car, you are supposed to be . . . well, driving. And not texting, adjusting your make-up, fixing paper jams or spilling your hot coffee on yourself so that you can sue McDonald's.
Having driven both in Germany and in the US for quite extended distances, there often is a significant difference. Germany has a much higher population density, and that translates to a much higher traffic density. Moreover, the fact that there are different speed limits for different classes of vehicles (80km/h for trucks and most trailers, 100km/h for many buses and some trailers, unlimited or 120km/h for normal cars) leads to frequent lane changes and other manoeuvring. On the US50, I can just put a brick on the accelerometer, tie the wheel, and go to sleep (or email) for half an hour. Driving on the German Autobahn is often (though not always) more like driving in, say, inner-city Boston. If you are not reasonably alert, there is a high chance of an accident.
Stephan
The FBI collected information for a period from January 1960 to September 1962 and found that in American cities deploying both types of vehicles, 65% of the officers killed while on duty killed were in two-officer vehicles while only 35% were in one-officer vehicles.
That seems like a rather natural correlation: Presumably when there is a potential for a dangerous situation to arise, a two-officer vehicle would be dispatched. Concluding anything about the safety of one-officer vehicles vs. two-officer vehicles from this statistic would be on rather shaky ground.
Then I suggest you trace it to the source and read the whole study. Bear in mind that this isn't the only such study to arrive at the same conclusion.
Departments don't often deploy both in the same area. And they don't route two officer cars across town when one or more single officer cars are closer. They simply send more than one car.
Multiple cars with single officers are more efficient and safer than single cars with dual officers.
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kph is an abbreviation of the unit "kilometer per hour" and the one recommended by most news publishers, e.g. Reuters. km/h is the unit symbol of the unit kph. The symbol would probably have been more appropriate though and I definitely agree that everyone should get rid of non-SI units.
He was driving on the Autobahn 8, but on a segment limited to 100km/h.
Of course there are speed limits on the German autobahn, contrary to what many non-Germans think. As far as I know, there are even more autobahn-kilometers with a speed limit than without (both fixed speed limits and variable ones depending on traffic/weather/...).
The FBI collected information for a period from January 1960 to September 1962 and found that in American cities deploying both types of vehicles, 65% of the officers killed while on duty killed were in two-officer vehicles while only 35% were in one-officer vehicles. This statistic seems to indicate that the presence of a second officer does not guarantee personal safety. From Here
Without knowing the percentages of one and two officer cars and the specifics of their deployment, this statistic indicates nothing. There's simply not enough information. Assuming 1/2 of the cars have a single officer, and 1/2 of the cars have 2 officers, and they are evenly deployed, one could conclude that each officer in a 2 officer car is .833% safer than the officer in a one officer car.
That's not the only problem here. Why are we citing a study from 1960 to 1962? Hasn't the nature of crime and the style of officer deployment changed at least a little in the last 50 years?
My mother has that setup for her reality job.
Really? What does she have for her fantasy job?
I have lived in GA, SC, MO, NE, CO, AK and have never two cops share a car except for AK. Id often see the staties on the highway from Fairbanks to Anchorage, and they usually had two per car. I am guessing it was more because of the extreme circumstances of living in Alaska, particularly in the winter.
I also worked as a mechanic in GA for a few years back in the early 00's. Working at a Ford dealership means you see a lot of the cop cars. The cars were set up for one person in almost all police cars. The sheriff cars usually were not.
Why? The COPS have that exact same setup and they screw around with the laptop while driving. And I can guarentee that cops are not "expert" drivers that can do that safely.
How about we demand the police stop doing the exact same thing.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
That just tells me that being around cops is dangerous.... So avoid police that are in numbers.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
...areas where crime is so rampant that cops are afraid to go alone.
It's called Detroit.
ummm.. my ford escape has had all this and more for over 4 years. I have had one accident not caused by me, and the cops were impressed by my setup, not busting me for it lol.
Seeing as the 2-officer cars have twice as many officers, I would assume that there would be a higher percentage of deaths in a 2-officer setup. Usually 1 car gets dispatched to a location, if something goes horribly wrong and there's only 1 officer, then only 1 officer can be killed. If there are 2 officers, then you can potentially have 2 officers killed. Another way to look at it is in percentages (which you seem to like). If you have 60 officers and 40 cars, then you have half your cars with 1 officer and half with 2. Now if you were to randomly kill 20 officers, chances are about 2/3 (close to 65%) of them would have been in 2-officer situations while 1/3 (close to 35%) would have been in 1-officer situations.
Paladin armour.
Also twice as many officers are killed, or you have twice the chance for at least one kill, when a two officer car has a serious crash.
Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
Am I really the only one that considered the possibility that there's fewer deaths cause single officers are more likely to act more carefully?
Am I really the only one that considered the possibility that there's fewer deaths cause single officers are more likely to act more carefully?
In fact that is exactly what happened, contrary to what all those who refuse to read the linked articles but feel compelled to pontificate think.
They also are much more aware while on patrol because they are not always talking with their partners.
I don't even know why the discussion is still raging, because all you have to do is look out your windows at the next cop car you see and take a head count. The vast majority of you will see single officer cars. If we eliminated NYC and Detroit and a few other tough neighborhood cities you will probably find that single officer cars are the norm everywhere in the U.S. On a recent cross country trip I was amazed to find two officer police cars, till I realized I was in Boston.
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Being around cops is dangerous, no matter how many of them there are.
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I have 3 times actually seen a cop driving in a car talking on their cell phone, despite a law here banning using a cell while driving. I even managed to get a video of it one of the times. I think the reason respect for cops has decreased so much over the last couple decades is that people are realizing they are hypocritical, power drunk assholes, and not just a few 'bad apples, but the majority of them.
When asked what he was doing, did he respond, "Impersonating an office sir."
You can all groan now.
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That's supposed to be a jab at the female members, or what?
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We seldom see two cops in the same car here in the states. And, as GP states, you can and will see the cops dicking around on the computer while they drive.
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So, can they charge people for having a Kleenex box that's not buckled in?
It is simply an image of how the line of thought for police officers has become, "Oh hey, I am the law!"
Power drunk for talking on a cell phone while driving, no. Doesn't change the fact that it shows a blatant disregard for the very same rules he'd pull someone else over for violating.
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Respect for cops has not decreased over the last couple decades. My guess is that you are about thirty or thirty five years old, so you only have a couple decades of memory [me too, by the way; I'm 33]. Cops have always been disrespected for being hypocritical power-hungry douchebags simply because they in fact always have been hypocritical power-hungry douchebags -- cf. Javert from Les Mis.
Yes, German autobahns have speed limits, though obviously not everywhere. We have them because they are absolutely necessary. Germany has more than twice the population of California on significantly less area. The traffic often is accordingly.
For the same reason, it is absolutely forbidden to overpass another car on the right except under very specific circumstances (stop and go traffic, or direction lines at a crossing). This is the other thing which this driver has done. In contrast to the costly but socially accepted offence of being 30 km/h (20 mph) too fast on a motorway, this is considered absolutely reckless behaviour by almost everybody and raises eyebrows whenever someone does it. Here is an example for what often happens when idiots do it anyway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AGwQuT0-Lk
In general, driving on German motorways, with or without a speed limit, requires significantly more concentration than driving on Austrian ones (resulting in a significant change of my stress level each time I cross the border), which in turn requires a lot more concentration than driving on a British motorway (in spite of the left-hand side traffic), which in turn is not even comparable to the child's play on American motorways. (At the other end of the spectrum you can continue this with Italy, then probably countries like India.)
The stuff installed in this car makes no sense if the driver didn't (intend to) use it while driving. Germans don't live in their cars, they use them to quickly get from A to B. That's one reason we have smaller cars. If he used this setup, then he risked lives in much the same way as "Turbo Rolf" did in 2003: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/1454812/Turbo-Rolf-jailed-for-tailgate-deaths-of-mother-and-girl.html