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NY troopers in big SUVs peer in on texting drivers

clownboy said:
Nope. We have specialty interceptor type vehicles for the highway patrols. They hand out tickets for other highway offenses too.
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So does our local SO - the last batch were about $25,000 IIRC, and they smoke at highway speeds.

Fords, I think, and a couple of Dodge Chargers just for fun.
 
clownboy said:
We have police vehicles that are designed for all sorts of specialty offence. They ticket and enforce the law even outside that specialty. And for highway patrol duty this IS "real crime". Just as speeding or reckless driving is.
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If you think the only thing they're looking for are texting drivers I have a bridge to sell you.
 
You want to stop text messaging? put a scrambler in steering wheels, where text messages cannot be sent within 18-24 inches of the steering wheel.

Besides, I don't even understand the point of text messaging in the first place - at least not as a conversational tool. If you want to talk to someone then call them....

Text messages are good for reminders like: "we need milk too" not full conversations.
 
SMTA said:
So does our local SO - the last batch were about $25,000 IIRC, and they smoke at highway speeds.

Fords, I think, and a couple of Dodge Chargers just for fun.
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TBH a good many of them in certain states are impounded vehicles never claimed or from the drug seizure side.
 
Mr.Nick said:
You want to stop text messaging? put a scrambler in steering wheels, where text messages cannot be sent within 18-24 inches of the steering wheel.

Besides, I don't even understand the point of text messaging in the first place - at least not as a conversational tool. If you want to talk to someone then call them....

Text messages are good for reminders like: "we need milk too" not full conversations.
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There's no such thing for one (jam just text messaging) and jammers are illegal in all states and federally for some good, and some lame, reasons.
 
Ikari said:
How much money is spent buying cops these nice new "spy on you" cars?
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I'm sorry...I didn't know coppers were in the money-making business. I thought their job was to prevent crime. Deter crime. WTF?

People like you would be the first to say, "They're doing it for the money!!!" So when it costs money? You're on their case as well?

Texting is deadly.
 
Bodhisattva said:
Phone confiscation is not a bad idea... we do it in classrooms. Nut kicking... that is not allowed though.
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The cops can confiscate your private proprty? Where does that end?
 
Rocketman said:
MOUNT PLEASANT, N.Y. (AP) -- Even for a state trooper, it's not easy to spot drivers who are texting. Their smartphones are down on their laps, not at their ears. And they're probably not moving their lips.

That's why New York has given state police 32 tall, unmarked SUVs to better peer down at drivers' hands, part of one of the nation's most aggressive attacks on texting while driving that also includes steeper penalties and dozens of highway "Texting Zones," where motorists can pull over to use their devices.

"Look at that," Trooper Clayton Howell says, pulling alongside a black BMW while patrolling the highways north of New York City. "This guy's looking down. I can see his thumb on the phone. I think we got him."

After a quick wail of the siren and a flash of the tucked-away flashers, an accountant from the suburbs is pulled over and politely given a ticket.

New York is among 41 states that ban text messaging for all drivers and is among only 12 that prohibit using hand-held cellphones. The state this year stiffened penalties for motorists caught using hand-held devices to talk or text, increasing penalty points on the driving record from three to five, along with tickets that carry fines of up to $200.

With the tough new penalties came tougher enforcement. In a two-month crackdown this summer, troopers handed out 5,553 tickets for texting while driving, compared to 924 in the same period last year.

News from The Associated Press
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I'm fine with this (as long as they are enforcing more than just this, which I'm sure they are). Both are in a vehicle and are in public and can see each other.
 
clownboy said:
We have police vehicles that are designed for all sorts of specialty offence. They ticket and enforce the law even outside that specialty. And for highway patrol duty this IS "real crime". Just as speeding or reckless driving is.
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Real crime? Like when cops are driving 15 mph over the speed limit texting, or have their phone stuck in their ear, or tinking away on their laptop?
 
clownboy said:
There's no such thing for one (jam just text messaging) and jammers are illegal in all states and federally for some good, and some lame, reasons.
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Well. it's a shame there are a bunch of idiots out there that just can't use common sense and realize that texting while driving is dangerous...

To make matters worse most phones already have speech to text and text to speech (which I find completely retarded and redundant as far as the user is concerned).
 
MaggieD said:
I'm sorry...I didn't know coppers were in the money-making business. I thought their job was to prevent crime. Deter crime. WTF?

People like you would be the first to say, "They're doing it for the money!!!" So when it costs money? You're on their case as well?

Texting is deadly.
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There job isn't to prevent crime. It's to raise money for the state while documenting as many people as possible and getting their information into the system for databasing. Besides, you see all the crap they have in cop cars? Who is making sure they're obeying the law?
 
apdst said:
The cops can confiscate your private proprty? Where does that end?
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It pretty much doesn't. There are many scenarios where they can just take all your stuff.
 
apdst said:
Real crime? Like when cops are driving 15 mph over the speed limit texting, or have their phone stuck in their ear, or tinking away on their laptop?
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Really, that's where you want to go with this? Yes, highway patrol vehicles are allowed to break the speed limit legally. They are also trained to deal with a number of distractions while driving on the job and are similarly legally allowed. Guess what, fire trucks sometimes break the local noise ordinances and even drive in the wrong lane if necessary.
 
Ikari said:
There job isn't to prevent crime. It's to raise money for the state while documenting as many people as possible and getting their information into the system for databasing. Besides, you see all the crap they have in cop cars? Who is making sure they're obeying the law?
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Everywhere a cop car goes, it's tracked. The speed, what the officers are doing, how they are driving, what they are saying even - tracked.
 
clownboy said:
Really, that's where you want to go with this? Yes, highway patrol vehicles are allowed to break the speed limit legally. They are also trained to deal with a number of distractions while driving on the job and are similarly legally allowed. Guess what, fire trucks sometimes break the local noise ordinances and even drive in the wrong lane if necessary.
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I have 1.5 million documented driving miles. I'm highly experienced at dealing with multiple distractions; more experienced than the average cop, I'm sure. Can I do whatever I want and the law want apply?

The law is the law and cops aren't exempt from the law
 
clownboy said:
Everywhere a cop car goes, it's tracked. The speed, what the officers are doing, how they are driving, what they are saying even - tracked.
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That doesn't matter...

It's not exactly like cops snitch on other cops... Or in other words - it's not like the person who has access to that information will turn in "fishy" information to those that can do something about it or launch an investigation...

Cops view themselves as them vs us (not all but many).
 
clownboy said:
Everywhere a cop car goes, it's tracked. The speed, what the officers are doing, how they are driving, what they are saying even - tracked.
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And I'm sure a whole lot really comes of it :roll:
 
apdst said:
I have 1.5 million documented driving miles. I'm highly experienced at dealing with multiple distractions; more experienced than the average cop, I'm sure. Can I do whatever I want and the law want apply?

The law is the law and cops aren't exempt from the law
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Yeah well that and a buck will maybe get you a cup of coffee. You may have the training and the experience, but you don't have the job. Police and highway patrol speed from time to time on their jobs. It is legal for them to do so. You, not so much.
 
apdst said:
The cops can confiscate your private proprty? Where does that end?
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No. Don't think they can... just said it might be a good idea. But then again, since we can't trust them to not try to use that against you, like you took a picture at a party where somebody was smoking weed and they arrest them/you, then probably not.
 
clownboy said:
Yeah well that and a buck will maybe get you a cup of coffee. You may have the training and the experience, but you don't have the job. Police and highway patrol speed from time to time on their jobs. It is legal for them to do so. You, not so much.
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Right! I don't have a badge and a gun, so I'm just another peon that get's ****ed over by the system, while the cops and the politicians abuse their PRIVILAGE.
 
MaggieD said:
I'm sorry...I didn't know coppers were in the money-making business. I thought their job was to prevent crime. Deter crime. WTF?

People like you would be the first to say, "They're doing it for the money!!!" So when it costs money? You're on their case as well?

Texting is deadly.
Click to expand...

Cops don't prevent crime. They show up to clean up the mess.
 
clownboy said:
Really, that's where you want to go with this? Yes, highway patrol vehicles are allowed to break the speed limit legally. They are also trained to deal with a number of distractions while driving on the job and are similarly legally allowed. Guess what, fire trucks sometimes break the local noise ordinances and even drive in the wrong lane if necessary.
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Not in OH.

They are subject to all traffic restrictions unless responding to an emergency.

The delineation is important.

When I see the State Patrol exceeding the speed limit w/o lights and siren, I always follow them at their speed.

Never has a ticket yet.
 
Rocketman said:
MOUNT PLEASANT, N.Y. (AP) -- Even for a state trooper, it's not easy to spot drivers who are texting. Their smartphones are down on their laps, not at their ears. And they're probably not moving their lips.

That's why New York has given state police 32 tall, unmarked SUVs to better peer down at drivers' hands, part of one of the nation's most aggressive attacks on texting while driving that also includes steeper penalties and dozens of highway "Texting Zones," where motorists can pull over to use their devices.

"Look at that," Trooper Clayton Howell says, pulling alongside a black BMW while patrolling the highways north of New York City. "This guy's looking down. I can see his thumb on the phone. I think we got him."

After a quick wail of the siren and a flash of the tucked-away flashers, an accountant from the suburbs is pulled over and politely given a ticket.

New York is among 41 states that ban text messaging for all drivers and is among only 12 that prohibit using hand-held cellphones. The state this year stiffened penalties for motorists caught using hand-held devices to talk or text, increasing penalty points on the driving record from three to five, along with tickets that carry fines of up to $200.

With the tough new penalties came tougher enforcement. In a two-month crackdown this summer, troopers handed out 5,553 tickets for texting while driving, compared to 924 in the same period last year.

News from The Associated Press
Click to expand...




Oh, "PEER" in.... I thought it said pee in at first... nevermind. :)
 
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