Posted on 09/24/2013 6:57:08 AM PDT by markomalley
Channel 2 Action News has learned one Gwinnett County police officer has given more tickets for texting and driving than any other officer in the state.
Ch. 2’s Amanda Cook spoke with the officer about how drivers are making it so easy for him to give the tickets.
Gwinnett County Police Officer Jessie Myers said if you do anything on your phone besides make or receive a phone call, he will pull you over. He said the most common place to catch you in the act right at traffic lights.
“I’ve written almost 800 tickets for unlawful communications device this year," Myers said..
Myers expects he'll reach 1,000 tickets by year's end.
"Probably not going to be hard for me to do at the pace I'm on," Myers said.
Myer 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 said most people don't realize you can't access any Internet or web-based data while driving.
"All applications are web-based to some extent, including navigation," Myers said.
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.
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.
“If it’s beyond 10, they're not making a phone call," Myers said.
Eight hundred tickets later, Myers hopes some drivers have learned phones are for phone calls only.
"This may stop them from picking up their phone five miles down the road or three days from now,” Myers said.
Using a GPS map program on your phone?
I never realized how safe Gwinnett County was until I read this piece...where I live, cops are needed to stop crime.
Yer not a cop.
You’re on a power trip.
Don't convict yourself remain silent.
Good!
People who text or talk on cell phones while they drive are fools who endanger the rest of us. I have no problem with what this cop is doing.
“at a red light? “
Morons don’t notice when the light turns green
If he ticketed me he had better be prepared to show up in court and swear under oath how he could magically see into up into my SUV from sitting much lower in a patrol car and be able to tell through my tinted windows in the couple seconds he was beside me that I had a phone in my hand as opposed to another dark object such as a wallet or eyeglass case and I was using said phone to text as opposed to simply holding it.
“Morons don’t notice when the light turns green”
Bingo
Yes they do! Right after the car behind them blasts their horn! LOL
It’s a new category of wasted time...yearly total of waiting for the idiot in front of you to look up and realize the light has turned green.
I couldn't agree more. That cop is saving lives.
But let’s face it, we’re a nation of wee baby-dults. We’ll do as we damn well please, consequences be damned.
Are you planning to lie under oath, Mr Clinton?
Ditto. They're operating a multi-ton piece of machinery containing massive kinetic energy among people in public. A little responsibility is warranted.
“Do you know why I pulled you over?”
“Uh, yer a cop?”
While I think that would be extremely funny, I'm sure the cop in this story wouldn't find it funny at all. As someone else pointed out, that must be a great place to live where cops have nothing better to do. I always think that same thing when I see speed traps set up on deserted rural roads. No assaults, property crimes, meth labs, nothing for you guys to be looking into today? Just going to chill on the side of the road and rake in a few $ for the County?
That's why it's best to be first in line at the red light.
There's always somebody behind you to alert you to the change...
< /sarcasm>
Cops: revenuers for the welfare state.
Let’s be real honest here. The purpose of the law is to punish distracted driving. The spirit of the law is to prevent death, injury, or property damage. While technically you are “driving” while at a red light, how distracted are you? What is the likelihood of causing a traffic collision? The worst situation I can imagine is some idiot punching out a person who has not moved when the light turned green, but I think that would be minimal.
Most states already have laws against distracted driving. If someone is swerving and unable to maintain their position in a lane, they are either intoxicated or distracted (most of the time). In either case, the driver needs to be stopped and an investigation to ensure. An arrest for driving under the influence or a ticket for distracted driving could be the consequence, depending on the facts.
To single out a form of communication is ridiculous, in my humble opinion.
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