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Proposed NJ Law Allows Cops To Search Phones At Crash Scenes
New submitter WML MUNSON sends this quote from NJ.com:
"License, registration and cell phone, please. Police officers across New Jersey could be saying that to motorists at the scenes of car crashes if new legislation introduced in the state Senate becomes law. The measure would allow cops — without a warrant — to thumb through a cell phone to determine if a driver was talking or texting when an accident occurred. It requires officers to have 'reasonable grounds' to believe the law was broken. There were 1,840 handheld cell phone-related crashes in New Jersey in 2011, resulting in 807 injuries and six deaths, according to the state Division of Highway Traffic Safety. 'Think about it: The chances of the cop witnessing the accident are slim to none,' said the bill’s sponsor, state Sen. James Holzapfel (R-Ocean), who has worked as a county and municipal prosecutor. 'He’s dispatched, and by the time he gets there — unless they’re unconscious and the phone is in their hands, or some passenger says they were on the phone — then he’s got to do what? Subpoena the service to see if the phone was actively used or not?'"
And that's only if he has court admissible probable cause to believe that cell phone usage was a factor.
My counter proposal: Sen. James Holzapfel drives to every single crash scene in New Jersey and personally apologies to the people who crashed for trying to introduce such a law and personally ensures their cell phones are dirt free and sparkly, replacing any broken ones.
Yes, officer, I was on the phone. On my NJ-approved Bluetooth-based hands-free communication device.
Oh, you want to see the headset? Sorry, it's integrated into my car.
The text message? My car reads them back to me though the stereo. I wasn't looking at the screen.
Cops have a hard enough job, and there are already enough laws on the books. More laws do not fix stupidity, nor does increasing the punishment afterward fix the damage that was done.
Chris Knight is my hero.
What happened to figuring out which car actually caused the accident?
Doesn't always matter entirely. If the victim of a car accident was breaking the law, but driving fine, he could still be in trouble. We had an incident in town where everyone who saw the wreck was pointing at one person as being at fault, but the guy who got hit was drunk. Guess who got cuffs?
In this case, the person causing the accident may get some leniancy by pointing out that the person was driving illegally and could have avoided the accident had he not been.
He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.