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Man cited for ‘eating while driving’ in Cobb County
WSB-TV, Atlanta ^ | January 18, 2015 | Rachel Stockman

Posted on 01/19/2015 7:19:26 AM PST by BobNative

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — An Alabama man says he was cited by Cobb County police for “eating while driving” under the distracted driving law.

Madison Turner said he ordered a double quarter pounder with cheese from McDonald’s last week, and a police officer pulled him over, along Canton Road in Marietta.

“The officer explained to me that he observed me eating a burger for 2 miles,” Madison said. “He said specifically three times, you can’t just go down the road eating a hamburger.”

According to the ticket, the officer wrote him up under Georgia’s distracted driving law, and under the comments sections wrote “eating while driving.”

That law reads, in part: “A driver shall exercise due care in operating a motor vehicle on the highways of this state and shall not engage in any actions which shall distract such driver from the safe operation of such vehicle.”

“Maybe I was enjoying the burger too much I needed to tone it down. I was certainly willing to do so but I didn’t expect to be fined or punished,” Madison said.

“If this was the law, I’d have to hire more attorneys because everybody does it including me,” said William Head, a longtime traffic and DUI attorney, who is not representing Turner.

“I’ve only seen something like this charge when there’s an accident. There was no accident here so the fact that this man was charged with eating and driving is a first for me,” Head said. Head added that law was very vague.

“Maybe if you had a giant pizza in both hands and you weren’t holding the wheel or maybe if you had a watermelon, half watermelon and you were just diving into it holding it with both hands, maybe that would be something,” Head said.

A spokesperson for Cobb County police said they could not comment, since the case is ongoing. Madison has a court date on Feb. 3.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: crime; police
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Many of you would be guilty of the "supposed" crime!
1 posted on 01/19/2015 7:19:26 AM PST by BobNative
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To: BobNative

show me the person, I will show you the crime.


2 posted on 01/19/2015 7:21:12 AM PST by Mouton (The insurrection laws perpetuate what we have for a government now.)
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To: BobNative

Changing the radio station, or admonishing a child passenger, would be “distracted driving” under this statute. The law needs to be changed (or, more appropriately, repealed).


3 posted on 01/19/2015 7:21:30 AM PST by Little Pig
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Comment #4 Removed by Moderator

To: BobNative
Many of you would be guilty of the "supposed" crime!

Chicken nuggets in one hand, Hot Mustard sauce cup (yay, it's back at McD's!) in the other, steering with my knee. That's how I roll.

5 posted on 01/19/2015 7:22:09 AM PST by Yo-Yo (Is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: BobNative

Oh...given the location...I thought...

He was eating Corn-on-the-Cobb....

which is clearly a 2 handed operation

...and worthy of a ticket.


6 posted on 01/19/2015 7:22:41 AM PST by G Larry (Daesh - Obama's future dream for his friends in the Muslim Brotherhood)
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To: BobNative

I think the law itself is fairly common but seldom enforced.

I remember years ago an episode of CHIPS where one of their officers was cited for it after a minor accident.


7 posted on 01/19/2015 7:22:48 AM PST by cripplecreek ("For by wise guidance you can wage your war")
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To: BobNative
Eating while driving isn't even in the same league as the idiots I see around here maneuvering through traffic with a cell phone which they never put down.

At least a guy chomping on a burger or drinking a shake will set it down once in a while to swallow.

8 posted on 01/19/2015 7:22:59 AM PST by Vigilanteman (Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
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To: BobNative
“Maybe if you had a giant pizza in both hands and you weren’t holding the wheel or maybe if you had a watermelon, half watermelon and you were just diving into it holding it with both hands, maybe that would be something,” Head said.

Sounds racist.

9 posted on 01/19/2015 7:23:09 AM PST by Cowboy Bob (They are called "Liberals" because the word "parasite" was already taken.)
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To: BobNative

Everything is illegal.

That lets them arrest anyone at any time for any reason.

It’s right out of Atlas Shrugged. It’s about controlling the peasants and keeping them in their place.


10 posted on 01/19/2015 7:23:15 AM PST by ClearCase_guy (Malort, turning taste-buds into taste-foes for generations.)
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To: BobNative

Cross examination of the cop would be fun. I think it might take me 2 or 3 days.


11 posted on 01/19/2015 7:23:28 AM PST by PAR35
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To: BobNative

A German I knew was scolded for this, and he quickly replied, “I don’t drive with my mouth!”


12 posted on 01/19/2015 7:23:28 AM PST by VanShuyten ("a shadow...draped nobly in the folds of a gorgeous eloquence.")
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To: BobNative

Gotta love quotas.


13 posted on 01/19/2015 7:23:48 AM PST by thefactor (yes, as a matter of fact, i DID only read the excerpt)
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To: BobNative
The officer explained to me that he observed me eating a burger for 2 miles,” Madison said. “He said specifically three times, you can’t just go down the road eating a hamburger

Again let's hear from the FR jackbook lickers how "the police are on our side."

14 posted on 01/19/2015 7:25:35 AM PST by from occupied ga (Your government is your most dangerous enemy)
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To: BobNative

The law itself is a good idea. But it requires good judgment on the part of police, which is something that is increasingly lacking. I can’t imagine that simply taking a bite or two of a hamburger or a sip or two of coffee while driving is, in and of itself, “distracting.” But cops on a power trip or that fundamentally don’t understand that judgment is part of their jobs can apply the law in crazy ways.


15 posted on 01/19/2015 7:25:56 AM PST by Opinionated Blowhard ("When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.")
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To: Yo-Yo

16 posted on 01/19/2015 7:26:22 AM PST by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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To: BobNative

Soup is the worst when driving.


17 posted on 01/19/2015 7:26:25 AM PST by eartrumpet
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To: Opinionated Blowhard

McDonald’s used to sell the McDLT and those damn things were a hazard because you had to assemble them.


18 posted on 01/19/2015 7:27:38 AM PST by cripplecreek ("For by wise guidance you can wage your war")
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To: BobNative

The ‘force’ must have been given orders to increase revenue generation via ‘tickets’.


19 posted on 01/19/2015 7:29:54 AM PST by The Working Man
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To: BobNative

“He said specifically three times, you can’t just go down the road eating a hamburger.”......
...& as the cop drove away he completed his report on his laptop up and running and docked next to him while texting his mistress on his cell phone


20 posted on 01/19/2015 7:30:05 AM PST by CGASMIA68
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