Slashdot Mirror
Georgia Cop Issues 800 Tickets To Drivers Texting At Red Lights
McGruber writes "WSB-Television, Atlanta, tells us that Gwinnett County police officer Jessie Myers has issued more tickets for texting and driving than any other officer in the state. Officer Myers said he sees most people typing away on their phones while waiting at red lights. 'Most people think they're safe there,' Myers said. However, he said it's still illegal. 'At a red light, you're still driving, according to the law. You're on a roadway, behind (the wheel of) a car, in charge of it, with a vehicle in drive,' Myers said. Myers also tickets drivers using navigation apps. One driver said she was just using her phone's GPS. The law forbids that and Myers issued her a ticket. "That's right. You can't use your navigation while driving. Unless it is a GPS-only device, such as Garmin or Tom Tom, something that is not used as a communication device,' Myers said."
What an ass hat. Bunch of people harming no one stopped at a light and he screws up their day.
Moderating "-1, Disagree" is simple censorship. Have the guts to post your opinion.
Citing them for texting, sure. Citing for using the GPS is fucking stupid. We do NOT want to revert to the days when people tried to manage folding and unfolding maps as they drove.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Good thing that the in-vehicle computers that cops use to check someone's plates isn't covered by this.
Hypocrites. Who will write them tickets?
We shall soon see this trend follow speeding tickets as the latest method for the government to extract additional funds to spend irresponsibly.
Which is why I always put my car in [P]ark while stopped at traffic lights.
(I live in Cobb County, 2 counties over from Gwinnett and have received a ticket for "texting while driving")
You're not legally driving if your car is in park.
And I beat the ticket by forcing the cop to produce the dashcam footage. You could clearly see my reverse lights light up as the car was shifted from Park to Drive.
In fact, having a car in Park is one of the few exceptions written into the law.
I'm not going to get into the rest of it, I'm a cyclist and it amazes me how many people I notice have a phone to their ear while driving, especially in the daytime. Those are bad drivers. Texters are worse, so yeah, do it, but it's more sporting to get them in motion instead of at a stoplight, less they can argue against as well. Getting them at stoplights almost seems lazy.
Leave the map app guys alone. If it's displaying a map I don't care if it's dedicated or not, it's displaying a map, infact the phone could be the safer device, it's maps are updated constantly and they're more likely to have correct directions based on that tidbit, at least in cities like I live in where the map is constatly changing.
The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
A cop doing their job.
There is nothing short of an absolute, death-like issue that you need to be texting at a red light, or anywhere else while driving. Time and time again I've been behind people who were texting, the light turn greens and invariably I, or someone else, has to put on the horn to get them to pay attention to what they're doing as they're holding up traffic.
If you're that narcissistic or ADD that you think you need to be checking every ten seconds, go seek help.
Kudos to the cop enforcing the law.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
I wish I had a push bumper on my car to give the people still sitting at a green light a little "nudge". It would be much more fun than laying on the horn. I'd love to see their reaction...
I wonder if the cop gets a commission on those tickets....
As a pedestrian I say great. People shouldn't be texting or checking their phones while driving. While folks might think it's safe at an intersection, I disagree.
I've almost been hit a number of times as drivers inch through a cross walk when they aren't paying attention. Or they turn on red and don't pay attention. It's super dangerous.
There is allot of bad science out there; reaching different conclusions about how dangerous texting and driving is or isn't.
Frankly I don't know that is whole lot more dangerous than the things people did before and still do; tinkering with tiny buttons and knows on radios, eating, looking at maps spread over the steering wheel, swatting at the screaming baby in the back seat, etc. Driving is fundamentally dangerous and distracted driving more so; but distracted driving is also a reality. As long as people are willing to take the economic consequences for the havoc they cause my vote is against laws regulating texting, cell phones etc.
That said I am glad this guy is enforcing the law. We have way way to many laws. The best way to get people to do something about it is make'em feel it.
Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
This officer is just a revenue tool for the state, he cares nothing about the "safety" of drivers. Meanwhile someone was stabbed, robbed or shot but it's easier to stand at a red light and write tickets than actually doing police work.
I guess it's a lot easier to catch people texting at red lights vs. while driving. Especially since some people who would never text while moving might look at their phones there. However, it probably doesn't provide nearly the increased safety that the law was probably sold as providing. Compared to swerving across traffic into an oncoming lane, missing the light turning green is a much less serious hazard, IMO. (Yeah, yeah, it's Georgia, it might be legal to shoot someone that doesn't take off as soon as the light changes, the "move yer ass" law, maybe.)
On the other hand, "Officer" Myers might just be doing more to get the law changed than any citizen could. He's pissing off a bunch of people that would normally have supported a texting ban. Eventually, he's gonna ticket a state rep. Also, his "ten touch rule" subjects him to accusations of enforcing not the law but his interpretation of it. And he's on record with that, now.
Could he be trying to get the law changed by super-vigorous enforcement? Doesn't sound like it from TFA, but it wouldn't be the first time cops have aggressively enforced rules just to get the public to demand they be relaxed.
I am not a crackpot.
The list time I injured someone while I was stopped at a red light, it was him that was texting while riding his bike.
No, what it makes sense to do is to look around you, and keep updating your knowledge of what's around you, and where it's moving, so that when the traffic starts moving, you don't get a shock by that kid in a push chair that gets wheeled out in front of you, and instead, knew it was there all along.
What, is Gwinnett County behind on their budget ? Is their Police Department in need of some new cruisers ?
I am from Georgia, and no level of cynicism as to why he is doing this is unjustified. It's about the revenue, you can count on it. What
do you want to bet that most / all of the tickets went to people with Fulton County or Cobb County tags ? (The county of residence is right on the license plate
in Georgia; Fulton is Atlanta and Cobb is Marietta; classically these sorts of revenue drives avoid county residents to avoid an electoral backlash.)
As a co-worker and I were just discussing, the radio in your car is also a communications device.
User logging on... 300 baud... 300 BAUD?!? (Click!) NO CARRIER
This guy was enforcing the law as written. The law must be changed. It is preposterou that using a hand-held GPS at a stop light sure is illegal but unfolding a map is not. Or was that illegal too, but never enforced? Civil disobedience. Running for office. Writing letters. Just change this.
Bravo!
Texting at red lights too often turns into texting at green lights. I really hate sitting through a light cycle because the idiot in front of me hadn't noticed that the light had changed.
I hate police at the best of times BUT I hate distracted drivers a LOT more! Yeah he's being lazy, taking advantage of a situation to get the tickets in but if it saves even ONE life, it's worth it. If you're using a phone as a GPS then it should be mounted in a holster or something so it is dedicated at the time. Got a text? Tough shit.
Remember kids: What's right isn't as important as what's profitable.
Texting and driving is way, way too prevalent. In ohio its an artform. People merge into the far right lane, press the phone against their steering wheel, and dont look up until the glow of the tail lights from the car ahead has completely illuminated their vehicle cabin. It renders the lane a horrendous mess of jerky start-stop traffic that wastes gas and infuriates anyone trying to merge from an on-ramp only to be met with a person whos completely divorced from operating a few thousand pounds of car or truck. It kills quite a number of people as well.
but as a police officer, fixating on one traffic infraction is a complete waste of my tax dollars. Try branching out and engaging in the two years of criminal law enforcement my tax dollars sent you to academy for. issue citations for the beamer roaring down the fast lane, or the pick up truck with a teetering unsecured mass of various brick-a-brack in the bed. I cant begin to list off how many people ive seen with a complete absence of functional tail lights, turn signals or competent lane change.
Good people go to bed earlier.
Well, that's a cute fellow. Definitely making the world a safer place.
Look, studies have shown that driver reaction time while texting and driving is far, far worse than the reaction time for impaired driving (aka driving drunk), which is clearly illegal. In other words, we (your fellow citizens) are a lot safer with you drunk driving than driving while texting. (See this Car & Driver study: http://www.caranddriver.com/features/texting-while-driving-how-dangerous-is-it) So, apply the same logic as you would with drunk driving. Sure, these drivers were stopped at a red light, but would you expect the cop to look the other way if they were swigging from a bottle of vodka at the same red light ("well, the car isn't moving right now, so...")? He's right to read the law literally and also to assume that if they're texting at a red light, they likely won't stop texting once the car is moving. Take away: texting behind the wheel is a serious danger to public health and should be tolerated to about the same extent that we, as a society, tolerate drunk driving - which is not at all. My 2c.
You're impeding the flow of traffic for not paying attention to traffic lights. I have absolutely no problem with this. Your text can wait a few minutes until you find a parking lot or your destination. Most people are barely capable of operating their vehicles without distractions as it is. Anytime you are not paying attention to traffic conditions you are creating a safety hazard.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
Sometimes police abuse their position or become oppressive in measures inadvertently. Still as far as texting is concerned I think this should be punished in a more severe manner.
I know I know, people say what's the harm right?!
It only takes one time that you have almost killed someone or yourself due to texting to finally admit you are increasing risk to yourself and others. Texting goes a step beyond the distraction of hands free phones because you are occupying at least one hand and looking elsewhere than what's in front of you.
Over the years I have had several near misses and dangerous situations because of drivers that are texting, holding phones and generally not only preoccupied mentally with the conversation but also physically with no hands on the wheel.
Some texting ass nearly killed a cyclist one day as he slowly drove out of his lane and into a bicycle lane, just a 20cm or so is all it took. He held the steering wheel between his knees and was using his phone with both hands! -Do you think he would have gotten off the hook cause the cyclist didn't wear a helmet?
I know that you can text, stopped at a light (presumably only there) and nothing will happen. Harmless right? until that time that your clutch is raised ever so slightly and you rear into the car behind you or you didn't notice the cyclist creeping from the side, or the motorcyclists between your car and another...
You can imagine the scenarios. It's not about the 10,000 times it went right, it's about the one time it doesn't.
Feel this is unjustified? I welcome you to cycle or operate a two wheel vehicle for a time and see if that changes your mind. Let's remember that there are no such situations in which you must to text when you drive or are operating a vehicle. It's an action you can entirely do without. you can "like this" or comment that witticism later.
At the end of the day this is my life and I can do everything right on the road and still get hurt or worse because of someone else. If it was your life would you accept me texting or possibly putting you in danger? putting your children in danger?
A 'singular oddity' is an event that cannot be explained and only happens when you are alone.
I often see police officers typing on their laptops or talking on their cell phones while driving (and not 'driving at a red light'). Surely some enterprising victim wouldn't be too challenged to get pictures of Officer Myers or some of his colleagues doing the same. The law for us is the same law as for them, isn't it? At least theoretically?
I have no problem with people who are actually texting while pretending to drive getting tickets. But giving people sitting at a red light tickets does nothing to improve public safety, it only serves to rack up fines.
I do have to say that compared to a dedicated GPS, cell phones overall suck at the job. I've tried several GPS apps on my phone, and none were anywhere near as good at the job as my Garmin. Even the ones that almost did an acceptable job required more work (amount of tapping, time eyes on the screen instead of the road). But sitting at a red light is the appropriate time to be doing that.
... you shouldn't be in control of a piece of heavy machinery (in this case an automobile).
Before red-light gadget users argue that they are in control of their habits, ask yourself why you're texting at a red light. It only takes a couple of minutes to remove yourself from the flow of traffic, do the texting, and safely reinsert yourself into the flow of traffic.
I have seen some horrific driving because people were following GPS directions. Those drivers could not plan far enough ahead to navigate traffic safely. (GPS software may give advance notice, but there are times when it is insufficient to change lanes and adjust your speed safely.) And those were proper GPS units, which involve less fiddling around than the software on most phones.
Using GPS on your phone is entirely legitimate. Checking it at a red light is the best time to do so. Sitting there writing ticket after ticket to people doing that is a jackass trying to get jackass of the month at his precinct. Like it or not, phones can do what single-use devices like garmin can do, so why should we all have to go out and buy yet another device and add yet another monthly leech on our paycheck for their service?
To the guys complaining about slow starts at lights, perhaps you are the ones with an inflated sense of entitlement. Perhaps your honking at people who don't anticipate the green by a second and peel out in a cloud of burning rubber is the more annoying behavior. Because, guess what? Not everyone on the road in front of you is from your area or travels on your little habit trail from home-to-work-to-PigglyWiggly-to-home, and don't know every pothole and timing of every light intimately so they need to consult GPS.
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
Just to give a little context for people who do not live around Atlanta:
Gwinnett County has been a traffic ticket mill for decades. This is not Atlanta - it is an exurb of Atlanta where all the racist, faux-Christian whitebread people moved a couple decades back. All it really has going for it is two major highways running through the county (I-85 and GA-316). Several people I know have had bad experiences there, and I literally do not stop in Gwinnett County anymore.
This is also the place where Larry Flynt was brought to court on obscenity charges, and shot by a white supremacist who confessed but never had charges brought against him (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Flynt#Shooting).
Please don't confuse Gwinnett with Atlanta. Gwinnett is a shithole that has only strip malls, a thriving prison industry, a growing international population, and an entrenched set of racist white people who don't like the new international population and want to throw them all in jail.
Worst of all, this place tattooed "GWINNETT IS GREAT" and "SUCCESS LIVES HERE" on their ugly ass water towers. Here's a picture I found via Google, ironically on a blog called "stuff black people don't like": http://stuffblackpeopledontlike.blogspot.com/2012/09/success-used-to-live-here-what-fall-of.html (I haven't read the blog posting, but I'm white and don't like Gwinnett, either).
Make no mistake, this cop was ticketing people for texting solely so he could take all the brown ones to jail. This is the Gwinnett MO: enforce traffic violations heavily, and try to turn every traffic stop into a drug bust or driving-without-a-license bust.
Here, take a look at what Gwinnett has to offer: http://www.gwinnettmugs.com/
In my state, the state you transmission is in is irrelevant. You have to exit your vehicle to be considered park. You can have your vehicle sit in a handicap spot as long as you don't exit the vehicle (that is considered park). Whether you car is on, off, in park, in neutral, etc does not matter.
Eeek, grammar/spelling is terrible in my last post. Sorry guys.
but cops can use their police computers to look up licence plates at a red light, or the can be on their police radio while driving at high speed.
Ah yeah, one rule for the cops, one rule for the plebs.
Can I read my paperback novel at the red light? Yep legal, can I drink my coffee and read the ingredients at the lights? yep.
Can I close my eyes and snooze for 30 seconds at the lights?
Stop nanny states making 5000000 rules about our lives, GET LOST govt. Enough rules is enough ok.
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
Shitting on the spirit.
Actually, its much easier and safer for the cop to nail someone at a traffic light than to pull a suspected driver over and approach the vehicle not knowing what's actually going on inside. The texter is usually unaware the cop is there until it's too late. By then, the cop can determine if they are threat and have them dead to rights. Smart policing if you ask me.
Now, the rule on using a phone as a GPS and writing tickets for that? In NJ, it is illegal to operate ANY hand-held electronics while driving...that includes hands free phone use unless the phone is physically mounted in the vehicle. Somebody pointed out that apps like the new Google Maps or Waze are often superior to the in-car alternatives...offer turn by turn directions...and don't require the driver to fumble with it while driving.
Why are these laws in place? Ask the governor whose driver (a trooper) had an accident while operating a mobile device while driving.
I live in Kentucky (the good part), according to http://www.distraction.gov/content/get-the-facts/state-laws.html we have the same laws on the books as georgia. I wonder if that mean that if I have to do something with my phone GPS I could get a ticket?
Just pull over then.
Seriously, is that so hard? Put your signal on, slow down, then rotate your steering wheel in the direction of whatever parking lot you're pulling into. Problem solved: You can play with your toys without breaking any laws, and other drivers and pedestrians don't have to worry about you being a danger to them.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
I would love to see more drivers ticketed for using electronics while driving, it wouldn't break my heart to see the "fluffer and duster" crowd (make-up appliers) ticketed as well, I have nearly been hit and / or run off the road by each more times that is safe for my continued sanity to recall. If you are controlling a 400KJ missile you should damn well devote your attention to that, not your damned phone / tablet / appearance.
How does the cop know if the person is texting, changing songs in their music app, or consulting the GPS app? Could I get a ticket for changing songs or rerouting the GPS app while stopped at a traffic light? If so, does the law actually expect me to pull over every time I want to switch songs?
...the lady ticketed for using her GPS wasn't just listening to the directions, she was actually typing in directions for it.
The law phrases it like this (I believe this is the law that applies):
"using a wireless telecommunications device to write, send, or read any text based communication, including but not limited to a text message, instant message, e-mail, or internet data."
So, using GPS is ok, entering data into GPS is not.
I agree it seems totally a**hole-ish, but then again, texting and driving APPEARS to be a serious problem.
Loading...
than someone who isn't paying attention, lets traffic ahead of them pull off, and when they realize it's time to go, the light has changed to yellow. They proceed to run it leaving everyone else to sit at the red light. Those people need a phone enema.
Cop admits car is sitting still at a red light. Person claims to have put car in park while at red light.
Person would likely then be cited for A) contempt (judges don't like smart-asses), and/or B) obstructing the flow of traffic/illegal parking.
The smart money, BTW, is on not being a selfish fucktard in the first place.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
I am fine with you not getting a ticket for drunk driving. But when YOU murder someone drink driving, it is murder, 1st degree and you volunteer to get the chair. That is the deal. No other deal is on offer.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
I'm sure this is the same type of officer who pulls people over for the crime of "Driving While Black". Here in NJ, I see it all the time, usually with THREE cop cars to pull over one dude in a toyota.
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
Yes! Texters at red lights are all too often self-centered, inconsiderate pukes. Keep up the good work officer!
The USA is only 4X older than me...perspective
Obvious sarcasm is troll?
Butt-hurt much?
People love to bash on Apple users, and Apple users take it in stride.
Poke some fun at Android users and their panties knot up damn fast.
Is it just me or are Android users seeming more and more like whiny little shits.
I know, let's go and make another chart showing how Samsung and HTC are KILLING Apple.
In 3 months after the new iPhone release has quieted down of course.
You're on a roadway, behind (the wheel of) a car, in charge of it, with a vehicle in drive
I'm typically in neutral at a red light, so does that make it OK? Does the gear matter, or is it because you are in the lane rather than on the shoulder? If a stationary car gets into an accident, isn't that always the other driver's fault anyhow?
someone plowed into a stationary vehicle at a high enough speed to cause a fatality & you think the fault was with the stationary vehicle?
wow...
I hope you never stall a stick shift, run out of gas, have a bad alternator (which happened to me once at red light of busy intersection) or any number of other reasons one could be stuck at a green light...
I'm not saying people not going on green isn't annoying but it shouldn't be criminal (or at least any more than anything else a person may do at a red light)...
Finally, a cop actually doing his job and making the world a safer place
As if these cops know the law by heart. They just know the couple of laws they have to enforce by upper management to fill their ticket quota.
Good lord this is the best news I've heard in a while. As someone who walks/bikes and rides public transportation quit a bit I'm a constant target of duechebag "drivers" texting away. It doesn't matter if you're stopped or not(except if the engine isn't running...) If you're texting while you're driving its wrong, and no sugar coated bullshit excuse can relinquish you of your responsibility while driving a motor vehicle.
We play the game with the bravery of being out of range
This man clearly can not handle the small amount of power being a traffic cop gives him. His superiors should recognize his lack of reason as a dangerous quality for any law enforcement officer to have, and show him the door.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
And that is the stationary car's fault?
Despite what lawyers and insurance companies would like you to think, blame doesn't follow some sort of conservation principle. There's more than enough for everybody to have some.
If the first car hadn't been stationary at a green light, the accident wouldn't have happened. The first driver created a dangerous situation. If people make a habit of this there will be more accidents - so deterring people from doing it is a good idea. Stating that doesn't stop the second driver being responsible for not looking where they were going.
In a survey of 100 programmers, 111111 thought that duck-typing was a good idea.
True.
How about my Garmin that is also my hands-free way to use my phone?
There is no activity in a free society that is without risk. We could increase the size of our highway patrols 10 fold and we would not eliminate deaths on our roads.
The question is always one of acceptable risk vs costs. The opportunity cost of reducing highway fatalities by increasing police presence is a reduced presence in high-crime areas.
With a 1 in 100 chance that you will be injured in a car accident, driving is a risky activity. I argue that we as a society don't care that much about the risk - especially not enough to fund a massive increase in our police forces. Smoking kills far more people than car accidents, but I don't see much of a public push to rid the world of that habit. Why is that?
Simply, it is because we value our freedom over absolute security and we sure as hell do not want to pay for more police than is necessary to hold down violent crime.
95% of the cops out there make the other 5% look bad...
When you're driving, you should bd driving. If you don't want to drive call a cab or take a bus. Every interval of time you sit at a red light because you were texting and didn't see the light change is the same amount every car behind you is also getting 0 mpg and wasting time. 2 seconds after green with 15 cars behind you? You just wasted 30 seconds of collective time since you had to text "lol" to your sorority sister. It gets even worse when you cause people to miss lights.
Get in your car and drive. The goal is to go fast and efficiently, otherwise you might as well be walking.
From a restaurant window on a downtown corner, I recently viewed the following:
A large Jeep pulled up to the red light, followed by an SUV. I didn't see the first driver from my angle, but the SUV had a young woman who was texting something while waiting at the light. As the light changed, the Jeep began to move. It stopped abruptly because a late car from the cross street sailed through the intersection. Apparently cued only by peripheral vision, the woman in the SUV put her foot on the accelerator – without raising her head, while continuing to text. The SUV plowed into the back of the Jeep at a healthy speed, crumpling its own entire front end dramatically (but oddly, not doing any apparent damage to the Jeep, which had one of those large tires strapped to its back that I guess served as a buffer). Both vehicles pulled around the corner of the restaurant I was watching from, and I got to see the insurance information exchange. I found it interesting that the woman continued texting the instant the exchange was over and she had phoned for help.
Nominally, I suppose this was a moving accident but as its instigation happened when the SUV's driver was texting while motionless at a red light, I'm more sympathetic to the above article's cop's "unlawful communications" legal rationale than I might be otherwise. Although from the linked article and legality aside, the cop still sounds like a classic paper-dispensing jerk.
...unfortunately I ran out of film
You really need to upgrade to the next iPhone. The new ones are digital and you don't have to install film anymore.
To Quote:
"If it's beyond 10, they're not making a phone call," Myers said.
I don't know about your phone, but mine does not auto dial when you hit the 10th digit? What about international?
To Quote:
"All applications are web-based to some extent, including navigation," Myers said.
I have plenty of offline gps applications, I use them when traveling in countries or towns that I don't have service.
Great idea, lets the offenders pay for the police.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
He's incorrect on the Georgia code.
http://goo.gl/rk1qmK
The verbiage, regarding sending texts and similar communications, says "is used to" communicate "with another person", not "can be" or "may be" so you would have to actually use the device to communicate with somebody to be ticketed.
Therefor, using the GPS function of your phone isn't covered under the violation.
The proper recourse is for people to pay attention. That typically means don't text and drive.
If you think the only reason people take forever to move once a light turns green is the amount of attention they pay to the road, I'll just go ahead and presume you've only been driving for a handful of years.
The majority of drivers have always had slow reaction times as well as bad traffic management skills. Cell phones have not changed that one bit.
Well, yea but, how can we make this Obama's fault?
how many of them where paid? how many that went to court were held up?
I know a lot of police officers. MOst of them are nice people doing their job.
some are assholes. Just like in any group of people.
based on the media report, this guy falls into the asshole camp.
for example:
The officer told us a little trick he uses: If he can't see your screen directly, he just counts the number of times you touch your screen.
So you saw me poking as something and you assume I'm texting? Yeah, see you in court. In fact, I urge everyone who got a ticket it to take it to court.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Hopefully this lets people know to put the damn phone away.
Well, actually, he's only ticketing people who use the phone to text, or send or receive Internet data traffic. Making phone calls? No problem.
I wonder what happens under Georgia law if one is making a cell phone call over VOIP, while stopped at a red light. Is that a voice call, or the use of Internet data?
Or what happens when one is on a conventional cell phone call, but has to enter additional data, like a password or to respond to an automatic answering system. Is that a move from voice to data?
Does this cop only arrest the non-violent criminals? Sure he has the stat for issuing the most texting tickets in the state. But what about rapists, assaults, and other violent crimes? Does the officer have any history of tackling serious crime--or does he take the easy way out and just sit at an intersection across the street from the donut shop?
Red-light texting still causes problems - I see it all the time -
- Texter is sending OMG hes HOT at red light
- Light turns green
- Texter doesn't notice, keeps texting
- Person in other direction is waiting to turn left, can't figure out why car with right-of-way isn't moving
- Person behind texter honks; texter is startled and starts moving, just as left-turner starts to go
- Everyone slams on brakes, more honking
- Pedestrians retreat back to sidewalk
>> At a red light, you're still driving. according to the law.
So next they're going to say I can't be drunk at a red light either. Bastards.
Their updated motto on their squad cars:
"To Collect and Serve..."
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
I wonder what the correlation is between the following activities:
texting while at a red light texting while driving a moving vehicle
not texting while at a red light texting while driving a moving vehicle
I'd bet it's higher in the previous case. If someone starts a text at a red light, and they just have a few more words when the light turns green, how many people are disciplined enough to put the phone down? As a cyclist texting while driving is a very important issue to me.
Of course, correlation isn't guilt. But careful, that's a slippery slope. Next thing you know that argument can be applied to drunk driving, financial regulation, and hate crimes, and your on your way to libertarianism, which seems to be a very bad thing at this website.
There are so many laws on the books precisely because police and prosecutors want to be able to charge anybody with some crime if they feel the need, usually for disrespect of cop, but any perceived need will do.
Since everybody can be charged with a crime at almost any time, police HAVE to exercise discretion about what they charge and whether they charge.
This cop chose to be a dick, and he deserves to be recognized and treated like a dick.
If you still think he had no choice, then let me ask you why no other cop in the entire state is doing the same thing. Could it be that they chose to not be as dickish as this dick?
Infuriate left and right
...his home town is Ludowici.
I live in California and in this state there are two different state laws in regards to handsfree devices. California Vehicle Code [VC] 23123 regulates handsfree usage, whereas California Vehicle Code [VC] 23124 regulates texting and driving (by prohibiting it). My wife received a ticket under 23124 for texting and driving two years ago. She was very distraught, as she was in a company car at the time and using the bluetooth wireless microphone, but holding the phone to dial. I read the statute and found that under 23123 you are allow to physically touch the phone to dial and or use a directory function. I wrote up an explanation of the laws for her and had her get the phone records for her company cell phone which showed that she was actually dialing the phone and making a call at the time she was ticketed. She went to court to contest the ticket. Sometimes you can have a ticket dropped when the officer that issued that citation does not show in court, but this was not the case. The judge asked my wife why she wanted to contest the ticket, so my wife explained and provided the evidence that the officer cited her for the wrong charge, and if he did cite her for the right charge he actually didn't have grounds. The judge agreed, dropped the case and chastised the officer for not understanding the vehicle code that he was enforcing. The biggest deal is that while it was only a minor ticket of $50 or so, the administrative costs from the local and county governments ended up quadrupling the cost of the ticket. All of that was refunded.
In a nutshell: Understand your local laws. Don't be a dick about things, but don't allow yourself to be steamrolled by ignorance.
A? Really? Stating your case and having a poor argument while not even being belligerent is not contempt.
This law has only been on the books a couple of years. Like the old Georgia law prohibiting carrying an ice cream cone in a back pocket on Sunday, I hope sane(r) minds will prevail and repeal this one too. Texting or using GPS at a red light is not a threat to public safety. And before I get flamed - I do not text whatsoever.
As a citizen of the county mentioned in TFA I hope I have some pull to ask the officer to instead spend time preventing 800 crimes where someone could actually be harmed. He could be doing something like, oh I don't know, patrolling a neighborhood! He can start with mine, where I've never seen a cop on patrol in 10 years. Where late one night I called 911 for two men walking around in my back yard and the responding officer never got out of the car much less did a welfare check on us. Cops: we know you're just doing what your badged PHB tells you, but this is why people resent you when you pull them over for minor traffic offenses.
Our county maps crime online. Undoubtedly the crime maps don't have an icon for texting while driving because this cop has done such a fantastic job getting the texting vermin off the streets. But feel free to peruse all the other crime roughly a million residents generate: Gwinnett County on crimemapping.com
All depends on the judge.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Doofus navel-gazing into their phone, hears a horn honk, thinks the light has turned green, hits the gas... and prompty runs over a pedestrian in front of them that they couldn't be bothered to pay attention to.
I think this is excellent. All the laws should be enforced, and if people don't like the results, they should change the laws.
Unenforced laws make everyone a criminal; then the law can be used as a weapon against anyone at any time, giving the government too much power.
Just because someone is looking at their lap doesn't mean that they're texting. I would personally fight it in court. If the State wants to waste time and money getting phone and email records to prove out a $150 ticket, so be it. My guess is that they'll cave.
Also, some clarification for others:
1. Putting your car in Park at a red light does not constitute having your car "legally parked" as required by the law. O.C.G.A. 40-6-241.2
2. Technically, he's wrong about the GPS issue. The law exempts use of a GPS device and does not define what a GPS device is. Due to lack of a definition, one could argue in court that the phone IS a GPS device and was being used as such at the time of the supposed violation.
Kicking the car might have give a dent, something that was provable. Besides that, if you touch the car of some people they get very aggressive. Think about that twice in country with lax firearms laws.
We are a nation of laws. Who made you the arbiter of the "spirit of the law"? Did you write the law of which you speak? Were you involved in the drafting of that law at all? What qualifies you to know what the spirit of the law is?
Can I get called in for jury duty? Then I'm the arbiter of the law.
The entire point of our system of justice that involves a jury trial is that every citizen becomes the arbiter of the spirit of the law.
Me thinks this guy has way too much free time on his hands. Next time the leaders of Gwinnett County whine and bitch about needing to raise taxes because there isn't enough money, maybe someone should bring this guy to their attention...
1 - The cop is being an asshole. "At a red light, you're still driving, according to the law. ..." is a loophole to give a ticket outside the spirit of the law.
2 - Laws against texting while driving are inherently stupid. Texting, cell phones, etc. are a normal part of human life at this point. They're no different from talking to the person in the car with you. The problem is that they are not producing cars that are safe to text in or use a cellphone in, ... There are a lot of heads up technologies and driving aids which should be standard in all new vehicles; but they aren't. These laws are just trying to place the blame for poorly designed vehicles onto their operators. They do this because it's cheap and easy, not because it's right. Any lawsuits about texting deaths or damage should be sent straight to the car manufacturer.
Interesting, 800 tickets...1000 by year's end.
Now if every one of those people who got a ticket does a written declaration, the cop would have to write that may written answers to the court or the ticket will be dismissed.
Effectively, eliminating him from writing tickets that stick since he is either spending his time writing responses and not issuing new tickets OR his tickets get easily dismissed.
At least in California, you can do a written declaration first and if that doesn't work, you still have the option of going to court in person.
The citing officer does not get overtime pay for responding to written declarations but does receive overtime for appearing in court.
Depending on the workload of the citing officer, tickets can be dismissed pretty easily.
While it is probably appropriate to ticket texters, if you are allowed to use a navigation system, and the app was a navigation system to point to GPS only devices as being acceptable is enforcing the letter of the law without looking at the spirit. Then again, that woman could very well have been lying. Glad I don't drive, such a spiteful environment from all accounts by all parties.
*Insert ridiculous, apparently intelligent but ultimately meaningless phrase here*
Assuming the cop is correct --cops have been known to get the law wrong before-- the law prohibiting GPS apps on smartphones, while well-intended, is poorly designed. The use of phone GPS apps should be permitted, as long as they are attached to a hands-free device -- clipped/strapped/velcroed onto your dash, basically. Some other states already have this on the books.
Manhandling a phone, even for a GPS app, while driving is indeed dangerous in that both your hands and eyes are distracted. But a hands free navigation apps do not present these particular dangers.
I was in traffic court in Gwinnett last week. I got to leave fairly early, but while I was waiting I'd guess that almost half of the people before me were for tickets for using their phone at lights. The judge knocked all their fines in half from $150 to $75. Even the judge made a joke about the surprising number of people in for that. He also explained a couple of times that technically you have to be off the road, and it's not just texting - any use besides making a call is illegal (although he didn't mention if dialing was).
Assign the cop to this location. http://tech.slashdot.org/story/13/09/24/2037202/new-york-turns-rest-stops-into-texting-zones
As long as you are sitting still, and do not hold up traffic when the light turns green i don't see a problem with a person using a device at the light.
But if you don't drop it as soon as you move, you should be ticketed. If you don't move when the light turns green, again, a ticket.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
...it seemed entirely clear to me that what was being banned wasn't "texting with your cell phone" but rather just "being seen holding a cell phone while driving". These sorts of laws get passed by and supported by people who don't ever think it will affect them, just "other people" who are "reckless".
Frankly, before the GPS, when I was in unfamiliar territory, I had a paper map on my lap. The GPS is safer since it's self-lit and follows my location automatically, but with texting bans like this, it's being treated as if it's less safe than an already-legal activity.
Hey, - there's some cop trying to get my attention - gotta go - Sent from my iPhone
But didn't you know, crotches kill?
Wow..... that's all I can say lol
The point is, you as the driver, even while stationary are distracted. If you are looking down at the phone an texting, you are distracted.
We must all remember, driving is a privilege, not a right in this country. Whether you agree with the laws or not, when you accept the drivers license you accept that you are expected to follow the law when operating the vehicle. Unless you are parked where you can take your foot off the break, you are considered driving the vehicle.
The other thing many people haven't considered is the flow of traffic. I personally have experience too many times to count being stuck behind someone at a red light who is texting, the light goes green, and they don't realize it because they are distracted. Sure they may not be moving, but now the people behind the distracted driver are stuck waiting and if only a handful of cars makes the light because some Ass Hat was texting at a Red Light, a chain of frustration begins. If we're in our vehicles, we are all trying to get somewhere, if you're texting at a red light and I miss the light, because you're too busy with a text rather than watching the road, I think you should get a ticket.
Why is it that people can't wait for a few minutes to talk to someone?
Why can't people just pick up the phone and dial the person and have a verbal discussion?
Why are people pissed at the officer and calling him a jerk?
What about those 800+ jerks who may have upset someone's else's day because they were texting?
Life takes interesting turns, but the most interest is when you're off the beaten path.
Any productive conversation about this has been since exhausted. This thread is now officially a waste of anyone's time; please leave and salvage the rest of your day. Thank you.
"Anonymous Coward" is for whistleblowers, not unpopular opinions.
I *do* blame the individual cops for this because THEY serve as the initial point of enforcement. The officer has the ability to use his/her judgement. He/she can easily choose to ignore something if he/she believes it really isn't causing any harm - regardless of what the "letter of the law" gives the permission to stop/cite the person for.
If the police all decided a law was unreasonable and unfair and elected not to stop people for it, I guarantee the law would eventually be changed.
A. This officer is simply enforcing the Law as it is written. And it is written correctly. The law says that the vehicle is in use while the motor is running, and the vehicle is capable of movement, or words to that effect. So for those complaining, if you just got the message while sitting at the light, you may feel you have something to complain about, but you are still behind the wheel of a 3,000 lb weapon, and your attention should be focused on that. If you got the text while in motion, you have already violated the intent of the law by being aware of the text in the first place. (I'll place big money on the fact that you already allowed yourself to be distracted by reading the text before you stopped moving). B. Anyone that says they can text and operate a vehicle safely and effectively is simply not correct. The only way to deal with texting in a vehicle is to ignore them until you can set aside the time to read and respond, or have a passenger read and respond for you. Otherwise, pull over, put the vehicle in a safe stationary mode, Park, Emergency brake, motor off and in-gear, etc., and then there is no concern you are breaking a law as long as you safely pulled out of traffic, and picked a safe and legal location to park in.
People don't take driving seriously enough in the US.
Every day I see a dozen or more people talking, texting, eating, reading, wandering across lanes, it's ridiculous how awful so many drivers are.
You're in a vehicle that weighs thousands of pounds, you're risking people's lives and livelihoods.
Waiting for you to pay attention wastes everyone's time, not just the one person behind you; what you do on the road in traffic can affect dozens of people. In traffic your incompetence is amplified by other drivers incompetence.
Hang-up and DRIVE.
According to what I can find online, Georgia law forbids HAND-HELD use of a cell phone while driving, for whatever purpose, and texting while driving, whether the phone is hand-held or hands-free. HANDS-FREE use of a cell phone for talking or using the GPS app is legal. So, if your phone is in a mounting bracket, you can legally use it as a GPS while driving.
Another example of unintended consequences.
You're on a roadway, behind (the wheel of) a car, in charge of it, with a vehicle in drive,
So putting your car into Park and texting would be ok?
So he issued more tickets for texting than anyone else. That data point by itself doesn't tell us anything. How many texting tickets has the next officer issued? How many traffic officers have issued more than 500? 100? How many traffic assigned officers have written no tickets? If you have a database to mine, there are all sorts of things that can be looked for. Some officer has the most stops. Another drives the most miles. Someone has written the most speeding tickets. It just goes on.
"Awesome!"
They feared that it could be used to suppress protest or support unpopular rule.
In 2012 about 14000 people were murdered across the US. The death toll on the highways was roughly twice that much -- about 28000. The data is pretty conclusive that, as a risk factor, distracted driving is as bad as being drunk behind the wheel. So, while texting seems innocent enough on the face of it, when it is considered in the statistical aggregate as a contributor to premature mortality texting is a killer. The officer is arguably doing much to to save lives. As much as a homicide detective? Hard to say. But his contribution to public safety is not trivial. Good for him.
"No fear. No envy. No meanness." Liam Clancy
... are killed because they were texting while their vehicle was stationery?
Now get off my lawn!
This prick with 800 tickets is, well a prick! Contrast him with Justin Hanners...what is wrong in America? Justin got fired for refusing to give bogus tickets in order to meet a quota for writing tickets: http://www.occupypolice.org/2013/08/24/ways-to-helpsupport-alabama-police-officer-justin-hanners-who-was-fired-for-exposing-ticket-quotas/
Ok, I'm probably going to expose the fact that I've never actually been taught how to drive an automatic (just thrown behind the wheel of one of the rare beasts and told "it's an automatic ; any idiot can drive it!"), but aren't you meant to put your vehicle into "Neutral" or "Park" when you're stopped for more than a few seconds. If you don't, you're going to burn out one of the several clutches in the transmission earlier than you need to. And changing a clutch between the motor and the gear box is enough of a PITA, but to change out one of the several in an automatic is going to be a real PITA.
OK ; one of my driving instructors also told me "get your foot off that clutch and onto the floor" about 3 seconds after changing up into 3rd at EVERY junction. But that's the way I've been taught to treat transmissions : "Don't ride the fucking clutch unless you're prepared to replace it in a ditch!"
Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
If you're not attentive enough to notice the police car within visual range then you aren't attentive enough to be behind the wheel, IMHO, regardless of whether you're spending the red light texting, drinking your coffee, changing the radio station, etc. A properly aware driver knows what's going on around him.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
I lived in Scotland for a spell, and (while I didn't do any driving there) I used to see billboards encouraging people to actually shut off their engines while stopped at a light. Blew my mind. To be fair, the lights there have a half-second yellow-red combo to indicate that the lights are about to be green again. But I am genuinely curious what the laws in the US might have to say about (a) putting an automatic transmission in park and (b) switching off the engine while at a light.
Switching off the engine is fine, but putting it in park on a public thoroughfare is most definitely against the law (at least, where I live); although I do admit, a law that's not likely to be enforced without another, more egregious infraction occurring simultaneously... like texting.
FYI, Automatics can be stopped/started from the neutral gear just as well as from park. Just keep your foot on the brake.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
FYI, Automatics can be stopped/started from the neutral gear just as well as from park. Just keep your foot on the brake.
A fair point, which had completely slipped my mind.
Does the money for the 'texting while driving' fine go to the county or the state? It's a very important question.
Back when not wearing your seatbelt was a secondary offense (they couldn't pull you over for it but they could tack it onto another violation) a certain state had a record of dismissing the primary violation (money went to the state) while keeping the secondary (money went to the county). Revenue stream pure and simple.
There's such a thing as giving a warning. Texting at a red light isn't the brightest thing to do but it's also way down on the list of stupid things to do. The officer camping out at the intersection just waiting to pounce on these drivers isn't looking for the dangerous offenses, he's looking for the ones that make him feel important and show his authority to "those scofflaws".
Stick him on patrol duty somewhere out in the boonies on third shift for a few years and let him find ways to hassle people there.