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6 Ways The Cops Know You're Texting (advice for coping with the surveillance state)
yahoo.com via insurance.com ^ | October 30, 2014 | Mark Vallet

Posted on 11/02/2014 11:34:16 AM PST by jiggyboy

1. The panhandler on the corner

Canadian cops dress up as panhandlers in order to get up close and personal with drivers. Officers in Ontario and British Columbia have slipped on hoodies, donned baseball caps and clutched tattered cardboard signs (complete with misspellings) before hitting busy street corners.

Their cardboard signs offer an upbeat message on one side and a clear warning on the other. One read, "My name is Constable Mike Cairns. If you are reading this sign you are about to get a cell phone ticket."

2. The trucker in the next lane

Last year, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo committed $1 million toward putting modified Chevy Tahoes on the road that sit higher than other vehicles.

3. The spotter on the overpass

NHTSA recently awarded $2.3 million to Connecticut so that towns there could experiment with various high-visibility enforcement measures, including overpass spying.

4. Your own cellphone records

This is not a commonly used tactic unless you have been involved in a car accident that resulted in an injury or death.

5. You, staring at your own lap

Drivers busy with their phones tend to be obvious. They drive slowly, hesitate at lights and are prone to weaving. Display any of these behaviors and there is a good chance you will be pulled over.

6. And now, the texting detector

A Virginia company called ComSonics is developing a radar gun-like device that detects the radio frequencies that are emitted from a vehicle when someone is using a cellphone.

(Excerpt) Read more at autos.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: surveillance; texting
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To: All

I drive locally every day. I make at least two trips with multiple stops. At LEAST once a trip, I’m stuck behind some minivan driving, yoga pant wearing, latte drinking, idiot holding up the line of traffic at a light because she can’t put her damn phone down. Most recently (today) I was watching this one mosey down the parking lot not looking up from her phone. Finally someone banged on her windshield as she approached a bunch of pedestrians and she acted upset..


21 posted on 11/02/2014 12:40:16 PM PST by newnhdad (Our new motto: USA, it was fun while it lasted.)
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To: jiggyboy
i h8 txt  :^[
22 posted on 11/02/2014 12:43:05 PM PST by tomkat ( /.02)
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To: Slyfox

I try to stay out of the left lane, and I don’t text.

Now if I can just figure out why my turn signal seems to be on all the time.........


23 posted on 11/02/2014 12:49:02 PM PST by wrench (While not "airborne" , Ebola is a Spit-Borne virus. Good thing no one sneezes in public)
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To: jiggyboy

“Their cardboard signs offer an upbeat message on one side and a clear warning on the other. One read, “My name is Constable Mike Cairns. If you are reading this sign you are about to get a cell phone ticket.”

Then why are you allowing the bums to stand at street corners and hold up signs?


24 posted on 11/02/2014 12:49:14 PM PST by Jack Hydrazine (Pubbies = national collectivists; Dems = international collectivists; We need a second party!)
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To: jiggyboy

In these parts, we have a heavy hispanic demographic - and they Mext just as much as the honkies Text....I hadn’t realized that you could text in Spanish.


25 posted on 11/02/2014 12:54:20 PM PST by ErnBatavia (It ain't a "hashtag"....it's a damn pound sign, number sign, or octothorpe. ###)
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To: ErnBatavia

LOL I can’t text in Spanish.

Hey I bought the new i-phone 6 and I can’t text in spanish


Dr. can I play basketball after my surgery.

Sure

Funny I couldn’t play before.

Oldie but goodie.


26 posted on 11/02/2014 12:56:58 PM PST by morphing libertarian
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To: jiggyboy

reading number 2 reminds me the CHP is in the process of coverting all patrol to SUVs.


27 posted on 11/02/2014 12:58:12 PM PST by morphing libertarian
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To: jiggyboy

I have seen the look of panic on a persons face when their cell rang (toned?) and they couldn’t get to it fast enough.

When I don’t answer my cell, my son looks at me as if I am violating a law. I just turn it off so we can converse. I usually turn it off when I meet someone.

I remember going to work or leaving the house for any reason, before cells, and coming home without any anxiety about missed calls and that pre-dates my voice mail recorder.

OMG!!!!!!


28 posted on 11/02/2014 1:02:30 PM PST by morphing libertarian
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To: Maceman

Yeah, I’ve also noticed that everyone who drives slower than I do is an idiot, and anyone driving faster is a maniac! < VBEG >


29 posted on 11/02/2014 1:11:39 PM PST by Don W (To laugh, perhaps to dream...)
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To: jiggyboy

Most cops could not care less what you are doing in your car.

Too much trouble.

.


30 posted on 11/02/2014 1:15:12 PM PST by Mears
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To: jiggyboy

Voice recognition texting is not any more distracting than a lot of other things we might do while driving. Lets say you have a couple of candy bars in the right seat that you want to devour. First you have to look over at the bag, take one out of the bag, unwrap it, and then eat it. Then you have dispose of the wrapper after you are done. Uh oh, you got chocolate on your fingers and a little bit around your lips. So you go looking for something to wipe it off with. Ah ha, there is an old napkin on the passenger side floor, time to reach over and get it.

To voice recognition text you need to find the number in your contacts, select it, press the voice recognition button, talk into it, check that it is correct, then press send. Done.


31 posted on 11/02/2014 1:21:36 PM PST by HerrBlucher (Praise to the Lord the Almighty the King of Creation)
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To: Maceman

Being a good driver means developing good driving habits. Following all traffic regulations and being courteous are good habits. Unfortunately, more and more drivers, many from other countries that are not attuned to safe driving, become hazards when they take to the road. Adding to this, many people are easily distracted by nature. This is why I stay home.


32 posted on 11/02/2014 1:31:46 PM PST by Misterioso ("Capitalism is not the system of the past; it is the system of the future" -- Ayn Rand)
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To: jiggyboy

Cops who drive around banging away on their computers are going to target distracted drivers. Irony at its finest.

A few weeks ago I had to swerve out of my lane because a cop was typing into his computer while driving and drifted across WAY into my lane.


33 posted on 11/02/2014 1:32:32 PM PST by ExpatGator (I hate Illinois Nazis!)
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To: wrench

Oh. That was YOU?


34 posted on 11/02/2014 1:34:07 PM PST by Misterioso ("Capitalism is not the system of the past; it is the system of the future" -- Ayn Rand)
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To: forgotten man
Driving is a privilege, not a right.

Just because something is repeated over and over does not make it true.

35 posted on 11/02/2014 1:35:41 PM PST by Straight Vermonter (Posting from deep behind the Maple Curtain)
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To: jiggyboy

One thing that isn’t discussed is the impact cell phones have on parking lots. When I go to a store these days, I see so many people just sitting in their cars, talking on the phone or texting, taking up a space. It’s noticeably more difficult to find a space to park at many stores I frequent.


36 posted on 11/02/2014 1:38:56 PM PST by Misterioso ("Capitalism is not the system of the past; it is the system of the future" -- Ayn Rand)
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To: HerrBlucher
To voice recognition text you need to find the number in your contacts...

Maybe in 1990. Even my antique flip phone will look through contacts by voice command.

37 posted on 11/02/2014 1:40:24 PM PST by Straight Vermonter (Posting from deep behind the Maple Curtain)
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To: HerrBlucher
To voice recognition text you need to find the number in your contacts, select it, press the voice recognition button, talk into it, check that it is correct, then press send. Done.

But, after you have pulled over.

38 posted on 11/02/2014 1:49:37 PM PST by Misterioso ("Capitalism is not the system of the past; it is the system of the future" -- Ayn Rand)
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To: jiggyboy
I, personally, have totaled a car when texting.

I am not averse to enforcement on this particular issue. This will actually save REAL lives.

39 posted on 11/02/2014 1:53:07 PM PST by Lazamataz (First we beat the Soviet Union. Then we became them. We have no 'news media', only a Soviet Pravda.)
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To: elcid1970
Got mixed feelings on this one, Big Brother surveillance vs the dangerously irresponsible citizen.
But after a number of near-collisions with cellphoning or texting drivers, I’m leaning toward the cops if it’s not a means of revenue enhancement.

No "leaning" here...
Just like laws against dealing drugs, or carjacking, or any other activity involving cars, which are often deadly, as far as I'm concerned, the more severe, the better.

I never engage in any of those activities...

40 posted on 11/02/2014 2:05:53 PM PST by publius911 (Formerly Publius6961)
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