Posted on 10/28/2015 10:42:23 PM PDT by KneelBeforeZod
A Maryland police officer went undercover and dressed as a homeless man to catch people who were using their phones while driving.
Cpl. Patrick Robinson went undercover Tuesday morning equipped with a police radio and a body camera. He held a sign that read, "I am not homeless. I am a Montgomery County police officer looking for cell phone texting violations."
(Excerpt) Read more at baltimoresun.com ...
http://www.distraction.gov/downloads/pdfs/Distracted_Driving_2013_Research_note.pdf
Government’s own data:
2010:
5,419,000 crashes total, 30,296 fatal crashes, 2993 due to distracted drivers, 366 fatal crashes involving cell phones.
Of total crashes, chance of being killed in an accident involving a cell phone: 7/1000ths of 1 percent, or, 0.0000675
2011:
Same numbers, 5,338,009 / 29,867 / 3047 / 354
Of total accidents, chance of being killed in an accident involving a cell phone: 7/1000ths of 1 percent, or, 0.0000663
2012
5,615,000 / 31,006 / 3098 / 380
Of total accidents, chances of being killed in an accident involving a cell phone: 7/1000ths of 1 percent, or, 0.0000676
2013
5,687,000 / 30,057 / 2910 / 411
Of total accidents, chances of being killed in an accident involving a cell phone: 7/1000ths of 1 percent, or, 0.0000722
All these odds presume that you were in an accident in any given year. Chance of being killed in an accident involving a cell phone if you aren’t in any accidents in a given year? 0.00000
Pretty consistent numbers year over year.
The government is trying to tell a story with its statistics.
Good because the law is utterly useless.
No one abides by it.
80% of the idiots who nearly hit me this summer had their stupid faces stuck in their phones.
it is a revenue generator, if the govt calls it a safety issue the sheeple are all for it.
If they called it what it realy is , politicians would be light pole ornaments.
Three years ago I got T-Boned by a texter.
Fortunately I was driving the Dodge pick-up at the time.
She blew right through a stop sign.
A likely story. /s
Well, I don’t know what she had to say but it must have been important because she was still doing it when the Cop showed up.
Between that and the impact site square on the real axle of the truck I didn’t have to sell my innocence very hard.
“because she was still doing it when the Cop showed up”
OMG.
He should have just shot her.
He might have thought about it.
He stood there for a while just watching her.
Finally I said “That’s what she was doing when she hit me.”
And that (as they say) was that.
Sheesh.
She was probably describing, in agonizing detail, the hamburger she’d just posted to FB before eating it.
How about he comes here to Memphis to catch all the cops driving and texting?
Still no reason to not pay attention when operating a motor vehicle.
I don't think he quite has that whole undercover thing down yet . . .
Maryland "Freak State" DANG!
2010:
30,296 fatal crashes, 366 involving cell phones
1.208027%
2011:
29,867 fatal crashes, 354 involving cell phones
1.185255% 2012:
31,006 fatal crashes, 380 involving cell phones
1.225569%
2013:
30,057 fatal crashes, 411 involving cell phones
1.367402%
If you take the number of fatal crashes involving cell phone use, there is an increase, albeit not completely consistent. Some researchers will interpret this to mean that the most serious crashes are increasing as a result of texting or other cell phone use.
The whole study is vulnerable to data collection omissions.
I do think, for most of us who watch other drivers near us who pull boneheaded traffic maneuvers, you will find that a cell phone was involved or in use by the driver who made the error.
Having spent years on motorcycles, I learned to watch front wheels and drivers to tell me the likely action to be taken by any given driver. That has not failed me on four or more wheels, either.
Considering the justification for charging cigarette smokers higher insurance rates was that the cigarette would distract the driver (lighting, using the ashtray, putting it out, possibly dropping the cigarette or knocking the fire off), I think that particular instance lowered the bar for distraction way beyond what the actions and distraction level of the active smartphone user are. I have observed people walking and texting step into holes and fall flat on their face. It is no great stride to accept that involvement in something on the phone could lead to an accident.
I’m more interested in how much he collected. I’ve noticed that people that complain the most about “the homeless” are the same ones that enable them by making their standing (or sitting) out in the breeze worth the rewards.
Ah, but see, the point you are making to counter my point actually mirrors it, and that point is that what is being presented as statistics is being heavily manipulated.
Let’s look at this from a different angle, your right to bear arms comes at a price. I do not need to manipulate data to prove that. Accidental gun deaths do happen.
Should we therefore heavily regulate guns?
But wait, it’s your 2A right to bear arms, or more to the point, your God given natural right to defend yourself.
But talking is a 1A right, yes? Oh I know, you say, it’s not the same.....
But more important, should we give, allow, or desire government micromanaging of our lives?
You have a 1:62 chance of being in a car accident this year. If you are, then you have a 1/7000th of 1% chance of dying by cell phone distraction, roughly 8 people per average state per year.
Is that enough for it to be OK for the government to regulate your life?
I don’t know if this is sad or funny, but quite often when dining out we see a nice young couple that by appearances they look like they are made for each other.
The problem is they do not talk or even give eye contact to the other. Both are glued to their phones texting, the whole meal barely taking time out to eat.
How can you develop a relationship if you ignore your partner?
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