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Florida Man Faces $48k Fine For Jamming Drivers' Cellphones

Posted by timothy on from the carl-hiaasen-on-high-alert dept.

An anonymous reader writes with this news from The Independent: An American driver is facing a $48,000 fine after using a mobile signal jammer in his car to block motorists around him from using their phones on the road. Jason Humphreys reportedly used the jammer from the back seat of his Toyota Highlander for around two years before being caught by Florida police. The 60-year-old said that he used the jammer – which transmits radio signals that interfere with mobile phones – because he was 'fed up' with watching others use their phones on the road. A story from late April (before the fine was levied) gives more detail: The case along I-4 started on April 29, 2013, when the cellular company Metro PCS contacted the Federal Communications Commission because a transmission tower along I-4 would suffer in the morning and evening. A week later, agents from the FCC's enforcement division in Tampa staked out the freeway on May 7, 8, and 9 and pinpointed a “strong wideband emission” in the cellphone wireless range “emanating from a blue Toyota Highlander sport utility vehicle,” with Florida license plates, according to a complaint issued by the FCC on Tuesday. Another clue: When Hillsborough County Sheriffs deputies stopped the SUV, their own two-way radios were jammed."

5 of 358 comments (clear)

  1. Dup by lecithin · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://yro.slashdot.org/story/...

    --
    It could be worse, it could be Monday.
  2. Re:In other news by rotaryexpress · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's not illegal to be riding and using a cell phone at the same time.

    It is illegal to cause harmful emissions (jamming)

  3. Re:In other news by Sigma+7 · · Score: 4, Informative

    In Florida, only for text messaging. They don't ban hand-helds or cell phones.

    See http://www.drivinglaws.org/flo...

    Also, officers don't pull you over simply because you are on the phone, they only enforce it if they catch you doing something else at the same time.

  4. Not a dupe by CauseBy · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is a follow-up, not a duplicate.

  5. Re:You know ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    ...the people who have accidents while using the phone, have just as many accidents without it.

    You didn't back up your argument. I'll back up the counter-argument -
    http://www2.potsdam.edu/alcohol/files/Driving-While-Using-Cell-Phone-as-Dangerous-as-Driving-While-Drunk.html#.U6mvI7G9a1w
    https://www.vtti.vt.edu/featured/052913-cellphone.html
    You're a danger to yourself and others. Please, drive responsibly and stop pretending to be a victim.