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Seat Belt Violators Caught By Cops Wearing Night Vision Goggles
WJLA TV (Washington, DC) ^ | Thursday June 02, 2005

Posted on 06/02/2005 8:20:41 AM PDT by tgslTakoma

Edited on 06/02/2005 8:25:19 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]

Rockville, Md. (AP) - Maryland State Police are using a military tool in the battle against seat belt violators.

They're using night vision goggles to find people who don't buckle up after dark. Police say 40 percent of drivers don't use their seat belts at night, making the roads much more dangerous after sunset. Police in Maryland are among 13,000 agencies nationwide that are now using the goggles.

With the goggles, Police say they can see inside cars at a distance, allowing them to nail violators who might otherwise go undetected.

The new strategy is paying off. At a seat belt enforcement operation Wednesday night on Rockville Pike, officers issued at least 44 tickets for seat belt violations.

Mod note: Associated thread.


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: District of Columbia; US: Maryland; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: bigbrother; donutwatch; leo; nannystate; nightgoggles; nightvision; revenueenhancement; seatbelt
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In fact, there's something called "risk homeostasis" that suggests that the false sense of security from seatbelts causes drivers to take more, not less, risks while driving.

The one nice thing that will come out of this crackdown is that it will drive more people into National Motorists' Association membership and to become more active in opposing nanny-statism.

61 posted on 06/02/2005 8:50:45 AM PDT by mvpel (Michael Pelletier)
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To: Hemingway's Ghost

LOL! That's it! They really do love us. This is why they are so concerned if we are buckled up or not. LOL!


62 posted on 06/02/2005 8:50:46 AM PDT by Sprite518
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To: Sprite518
It would take a lot of violations in order to recoup the money for 1 NVG....This is nothing but a revenue generator.

Make up your mind.

63 posted on 06/02/2005 8:51:16 AM PDT by Huck (One day the lion will lay down with the lamb; Until that day comes, I want America to be the lion.)
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To: sabatino28

Insane, isn't it?


64 posted on 06/02/2005 8:52:19 AM PDT by tgslTakoma
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To: tgslTakoma

So the purpose is revenue generation - NOT getting people to wear their belts?


65 posted on 06/02/2005 8:53:39 AM PDT by mad_as_he$$ (Never corner anything meaner than you. NSDQ)
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To: over3Owithabrain; Rebelbase; American_Centurion
Kinda goes with our other discussion...

Begin cop bashing...NOW!

kidding...

66 posted on 06/02/2005 8:53:53 AM PDT by thefactor
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To: Publius6961

This all started with those motorcycle helmet laws. One bike magazine predicted this chain of events 15 or so years ago. Think of the frog in the pan, brought slowly to a boil.


67 posted on 06/02/2005 8:54:08 AM PDT by sheik yerbouty
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To: tgslTakoma

You won't be fined if you observe the law, citizen.

Your papers, please.


68 posted on 06/02/2005 8:55:08 AM PDT by Petronski (A champion of dance, my moves will put you in a trance, and I never leave the disco alone.)
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To: eastforker
"Now if we went to the PD and told them we would donate $250 for every illegal captured and returned to mexico we might see some genuine law enforcement."

Sorry, but I don't think your quite admirable idea would work in the Peoples' Republic of Montgomerystan.

69 posted on 06/02/2005 8:55:40 AM PDT by chs68
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To: ArmedNReady
From WRC TV's report on same story...

ROCKVILLE, Md. --
Police Catch Seat-Belt Violators

A piece of electronic equipment that's often used by military personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq is now being used by police in Maryland to catch seat belt violators.

Wednesday night at a seat-belt enforcement checkpoint, police from several Maryland agencies started using night-vision goggles to see if motorists were buckled up.

After a briefing at the Maryland State Police barracks in Rockville, where strategy was discussed, officers hit the streets in search of violators.

Authorities said 40 percent of drivers are less likely to wear their seat belts at night and that could be deadly. Maryland State Police Cpl. Kevin Sherwood said the night-vision goggles are an effective way to catch those drivers.

"Often times you can see inside, but other times you can't because the light is directly ahead," Sherwood said. "What this does is amplifies the ambient light inside the vehicle so you can actually see inside the car and see whether they actually have their seat belt on."

Police said officers will continue using the night goggles.

When people don't wear seat belts and get ejected from their vehicle, Sherwood said the chance they could receive injuries that could lead to death, or become maimed increases.

Maryland authorities said they issued 111 citations Wednesday night as part of their "Click It or Ticket" campaign.

70 posted on 06/02/2005 8:56:29 AM PDT by tgslTakoma
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To: ActionNewsBill

"I've been looking for a reason to drop GEICO, and find another insurance company."

Their name wasn't enough for you?


71 posted on 06/02/2005 8:57:12 AM PDT by CSM ( If the government has taken your money, it has fulfilled its Social Security promises. (dufekin))
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To: tgslTakoma

I know I'm going to be listening to Chris Core tonight.


72 posted on 06/02/2005 8:58:16 AM PDT by chs68
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To: MrBambaLaMamba

"Did you really think we want those laws observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them to be broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against... We're after power and we mean it... There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Reardon, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be
much easier to deal with." ('Atlas Shrugged' 1957)


73 posted on 06/02/2005 8:58:17 AM PDT by CSM ( If the government has taken your money, it has fulfilled its Social Security promises. (dufekin))
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To: ActionNewsBill
The radar gun thing at GEICO dates back to the '80s. Even after that policy was uncovered (internal GEICO memos were leaked to Patrick Bedard, an editor at Car & Driver magazine), the company persisted in this behavior. In the '90s, GEICO gave a huge cash infusion (nearly $1 Million) to a nearly bankrupt company that was developing the hand-held laser (LIDAR) guns.

Other companies may do the same thing, but only GEICO has been found out. They'll never get a penny from me.

74 posted on 06/02/2005 8:58:18 AM PDT by Charles Martel
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To: sheik yerbouty
This all started with those motorcycle helmet laws. One bike magazine predicted this chain of events 15 or so years ago.

I am arguing, and can prove, that this chain of events started 50 years ago!

75 posted on 06/02/2005 8:59:35 AM PDT by Publius6961 (Before)
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To: tgslTakoma

I feel so much safer now. I am so happy our governments spend so much money and time on this effort and not piss away needed resources on our country's borders. It's wonderful to have numbnuts running governments.


76 posted on 06/02/2005 9:05:03 AM PDT by WKUHilltopper
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To: Huck
It is both. It will take a long........ time to recoup the money for the NVGs. Its a dumb idea, and a waste of the tax payers money. Its for the military wanna be police.
77 posted on 06/02/2005 9:05:31 AM PDT by Sprite518
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To: tgslTakoma
Lets see here.

1: Further militarizing of the police.

2: Revenue gathering.

3: Illegal search? I do not see any difference if a citizen is peeking through neighbors windows with these devices. What would happen if I were to sit outside a police station watching them with night vision?

4: The old health,safety and welfare argument being used to restrict property rights and such by municipalities daily.

Rant off/
78 posted on 06/02/2005 9:06:08 AM PDT by beltfed308 (Cloth or link. Happiness is a perfect trunion.)
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To: CSM
Their name wasn't enough for you?

Never really mattered since their rates were so low.

Now, there's an increase every year, and I haven't had a ticket in this century.

79 posted on 06/02/2005 9:07:03 AM PDT by ActionNewsBill ("In times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act")
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To: Mortikhi
When the law was enacted (I can't remember how many years ago that was), it was promised to be a "secondary" violation, meaning that you wouldn't be pulled over for that infraction, but they could issue citations if they pulled you over for something else. Well, that lasted only a few years, if that long, before they changed it to a primary violation.

I wear my seatbelts all the time, but not because it's the law.

80 posted on 06/02/2005 9:07:10 AM PDT by tgslTakoma
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