Cops Dress As Construction Workers To Bust Texting Drivers.

[Greenbacks]

COBB COUNTY, Ga. —

Some drivers call it sneaky, but one metro police department says going undercover is an effective way to bust drivers texting, tweeting or checking emails behind the wheel.
Marietta Police dressed up as a construction crew at a busy Cobb County intersection Wednesday to catch distracted drivers in the act.
Most drivers paid no attention to the road crew working at Cobb Parkway at Roswell Road, but the crew wasn't radioing in survey readings -- they were busting distracted drivers.


“What we've done here is we're able to put officers in the roads so we're able to get close enough almost inside their cars so we can look down and see exactly what they're doing on their phones,” said Marietta police Officer Nick Serkedakis.
Police say making good distracted driving cases are tough because it is often challenging to figure out exactly what the driver is doing in the car. This way, their cases are much stronger.
"It doesn't matter if you're stopped at a light, if you're on a public thoroughfare and facing the phone we're going to have a conversation with you,” Serkedakis said.


Many pulled over couldn't believe they were getting busted while sitting at a light, so police had to spend time explaining the law to some skeptics.
“Anytime you're in the road, in the roadway, you're in gear and in control of the roadway. Even reading it falls under the code section as well,” one officer told a driver.
"If you're driving and texting and driving and trying to read (that’s a problem), but if you're situated and stopped just trying to confirm an address, I don't think that's a problem,” said driver Al Morrison, who was pulled over by officers Wednesday.
The tickets are $150 and one point on your license. Police say texting and driving is a growing problem that needs to stop.
"I really think this is the DUI of the future. Impairment is still a problem, but this distracted driving is killing as many people as drunk drivers,” Serkedakis said.


Cop claims he’s issued nearly 800 tickets for texting and driving]

Know your rights: Drivers willingly hand over incriminating evidence]

 

[MattyMatt]

"sneaky", more like entrapment, but there are no laws against it here, which is BS. See PoPos all the time sitting around the corner from bars and such...

 

[HarryCaray]

Reading a text message while stopped at a stoplight should not be illegal. That's bullshit.

 

[TheFunkMonkey]

"sneaky", more like entrapment, but there are no laws against it here, which is BS. See PoPos all the time sitting around the corner from bars and such...

"In criminal law, entrapment is a practice whereby a law enforcement agent induces a person to commit a criminal offense that the person would have otherwise been unlikely to commit. It is a conduct that is generally discouraged and thus, in many jurisdictions, it is a possible defense against criminal liability."

 

[TheFunkMonkey]

Reading a text message while stopped at a stoplight should not be illegal. That's bullshit.

Until you're sitting at a busy intersection @ 7:47am, on your way to work --- and the first person (checking their phone) sits there for five seconds, oblivious to the green light.

I know, it's not much different than checking your glovebox, reading a map, etc. But tough shit --- that's the way the world works. Some laws are actively enforced, some laws aren't.

 

[HacheMan]

Just pathetic & sad to spend time & dollars on this when there's so many other things they could be concentrating on...

 

[PatsFanatic]

Reading a text message while stopped at a stoplight should not be illegal. That's bullshit.

Exactly how my wife got her texting ticket.....$100 fine in MA

 

[scottcarter]

Just pathetic & sad to spend time & dollars on this when there's so many other things they could be concentrating on...

what do you mean? Its a cash cow for the government.

 

[scottcarter]

Reading a text message while stopped at a stoplight should not be illegal. That's bullshit.

yup I agree but those idiots that text and drive shouldn't be on the road. You might as well close your eyes for several seconds pretending to be Stevie Wonder while you're driving. What is so friggen important that it can't wait?

 

[TheComputerGroup]

If you have a good lawyer, you can beat this hands down!

Unless they're taking video of you texting or trying to read your texts while driving, its beatable in court.

For all we know, the cops could be lying, its not the first time a cop lied.

 

[TheComputerGroup]

what do you mean? Its a cash cow for the government.

Of course its a scam......& if you or I.come up.with a scam.like this to rob the public, we get arrested.

 

[MattyMatt]

If you have a good lawyer, you can beat this hands down!

Unless they're taking video of you texting or trying to read your texts while driving, its beatable in court.

For all we know, the cops could be lying, its not the first time a cop lied.

That's the thing, it's still about the $$$$$$. Out for the ticket, or out $1500 for a lawyer.

 

[TheComputerGroup]

That's the thing, it's still about the $$$$$$. Out for the ticket, or out $1500 for a lawyer.

Yeah dude, its a complete govt scam......they've been doing it to the public since forever!

These fvkers sit around & think how can we make extra money for ourselves & to pay for other scams to cone, its a revolving door for the public in these scams dishing out incredible amounts of money.

They say it for "our safety" ......they don't give 2 shits about our safety. Same goes for DUI stops, its probably the biggest money maker ever for tge courts, lawyers & judges......Its all about the money!

 

[MattyMatt]

Yeah dude, its a complete govt scam......they've been doing it to the public since forever!

These fvkers sit around & think how can we make extra money for ourselves & to pay for other scams to cone, its a revolving door for the public in these scams dishing out incredible amounts of money.

They say it for "our safety" ......they don't give 2 shits about our safety. Same goes for DUI stops, its probably the biggest money maker ever for tge courts, lawyers & judges......Its all about the money!

Yea dude, I totally feel you! Here, they have huge DUI billboards. Instead of just saying "Don't Drink and Drive" or something along those terms, they have "this buzz cost you $10,000". I guess they forgot to add "whether you're innocent or guilty."

 

[PigskinArmor]

That's the thing, it's still about the $$$$$$. Out for the ticket, or out $1500 for a lawyer.

+1 They are only about money and not safety.

 

[HacheMan]

Texting while driving is dangerous we all know that but to go to such STUPID extremes trying to catch ppl doing it is in all reality a childish game apparently put together by a group of police officials who are either too lazy or too stupid to be spending our tax dollars & manpower on other important things.

This is almost as lame as when they hide behind a keyboard on the computer posing as young girls trying to trick & basically frame men into meeting them...

 

[Greenbacks]

Texting and driving is killing a lot of people....This is a great idea.....Gotta slow it down some how.

This story comes to mind......Senseless death.





THE BRONX — A Bronx high school teacher cycling across the country to raise money for affordable housing was struck and killed Thursday morning by a driver distracted by her cellphone in Oklahoma, state authorities said.

Patrick Wanninkhof, 25, who taught physics and computer science for three years at Fordham High School for the Arts as a Teach for America Fellow, was run down by Sarah Morris, 34, near the town of Canute just after 8 a.m. and pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.

Another cyclist, 22-year-old Bridget Anderson, was also struck by the car and was in stable condition, police said.


Morris told police that she was looking at her phone when she ran into the two cyclists, according to Oklahoma Highway Patrol.


Wanninkhof was inspired by his Bronx students to bike from Maine to California in order to raise money to build affordable housing through a program called Bike and Build, according to his profile on the program’s website.

“A student told me that she and her mom had been moving between relatives' houses every week after they couldn't pay rent,” Wanninkhof wrote. “How on earth could I expect her to give her all to Newton's Laws when she wasn't sure where she'd be sleeping that evening??”

Word of the fatal collision swiftly made its way to New York, devastating students and teachers at Fordham who remembered Wanninkhof as a selfless and dedicated teacher.

Francisco Diaz, 17, who just graduated from Fordham and is set to study at LaGuardia Community College, was Wanninkhof's student for three years, first in physics and then computer science, he said.


“He was quite a character — very goofy, very quirky,” Diaz said. “He’s not just my teacher. We became friends.”

Diaz recalled a class during his sophomore year in which students were acting rowdy and disrespecting Wanninkhof. They ended up making him cry that day, Diaz said, recalling it was also Wanninkhof's birthday.

“Even then it didn’t faze him. He didn’t hold a grudge against us. After... [he said], 'Alright you made me cry on my birthday... but I still love you guys even though my feelings are hurt.' It was very heartwarming,” the student said.

“At first people took it as a sign of weakness, but others saw it as, ‘Oh this guy really does care.’”

Michael Johnson Jr., the assistant principal at Fordham, said the school community was devastated by Wanninkhof's death.

“I don’t have the words to describe the impact that this man had on his students lives and even mine as a fellow educator,” Johnson said. “He was just an all-around great guy. You look at him [and] you smile.”

He said that like many new teachers, Wanninkhof initially struggled with classroom management but quickly figured out how to captivate his students.


“You walk into a class and you couldn't believe he was a third-year teacher,” Johnson recalled. “Administration liked to call him the 'Nutty Professor,' as he got his students to love science and found ways to ensure students applied science concepts learned in class to real world application."

“Every time I stepped foot into his classroom, it felt like a science room," Johnson added. "He was the kind of science teacher I wish I would have had when I was in high school.”

Others took to social media, building an online shrine to Wanninkhof.

 

[MikeB]

ScottCarter dresses up like a construction worker when he goes out clubbing on the weekends.

I think he does it for a different reason though.

 

[HacheMan]

ScottCarter dresses up like a construction worker when he goes out clubbing on the weekends.

I think he does it for a different reason though.

OMGOsh Scott that's YOU in the hardhat?!?

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[PatsFan1283]

Yeah dude, its a complete govt scam......they've been doing it to the public since forever!

These fvkers sit around & think how can we make extra money for ourselves & to pay for other scams to cone, its a revolving door for the public in these scams dishing out incredible amounts of money.

They say it for "our safety" ......they don't give 2 shits about our safety. Same goes for DUI stops, its probably the biggest money maker ever for tge courts, lawyers & judges......Its all about the money!

Yeah that is going to suck for them once driving becomes automated. Might actually have to do something productive rather than shake people down all day.