Posted on 09/24/2013 6:57:08 AM PDT by markomalley
Channel 2 Action News has learned one Gwinnett County police officer has given more tickets for texting and driving than any other officer in the state.
Ch. 2’s Amanda Cook spoke with the officer about how drivers are making it so easy for him to give the tickets.
Gwinnett County Police Officer Jessie Myers said if you do anything on your phone besides make or receive a phone call, he will pull you over. He said the most common place to catch you in the act right at traffic lights.
“I’ve written almost 800 tickets for unlawful communications device this year," Myers said..
Myers expects he'll reach 1,000 tickets by year's end.
"Probably not going to be hard for me to do at the pace I'm on," Myers said.
Myer said he sees most people typing away on their phones while waiting at red lights.
"Most people think they're safe there," Myers said.
However, he said it’s still illegal.
"At a red light, you're still driving. according to the law. You're on a roadway, behind (the wheel of) a car, in charge of it, with a vehicle in drive," Myers said.
Myers said most people don't realize you can't access any Internet or web-based data while driving.
"All applications are web-based to some extent, including navigation," Myers said.
One driver said she was just using her phone's GPS. The law forbids that and Myers issued her a ticket.
"That's right. You can't use your navigation while driving. Unless it is a GPS-only device, such as Garmin or Tom Tom, something that is not used as a communication device," Myers said.
The officer told us a little trick he uses: If he can't see your screen directly, he just counts the number of times you touch your screen.
“If it’s beyond 10, they're not making a phone call," Myers said.
Eight hundred tickets later, Myers hopes some drivers have learned phones are for phone calls only.
"This may stop them from picking up their phone five miles down the road or three days from now,” Myers said.
I think the power trip description was accurate. What goes around comes around.
He will get time off or overtime for his time in court. Either way, he wins and the taxpayers lose. That is how wonderful our system of crime fighting works here.
Good for him! I was rear ended two months ago while driving down the road at 45 MPH by a ditz who was texting. That’s right...I was rear ended, while driving...not stopped at a light or slowing for a turn...moving steadily down the road. She was doing at least 60.
Great, teach people to not text at a red light, and save their texting for while they’re driving at 70mph.
Have you all noticed the “texting gap”? The guy in front of you leaves an enormous following distance in front of him. On a multi-lane highway, everyone cuts in front of him, making you late for work. That is they guy the cops should be ticketing.
Do you want a society without any law enforcement whatsoever? Really?
Certainly not, in fact I, being the defendant, will never even be under oath, but the cop will, that is if he even shows up, most will simply skip the hearing meaning the ticket is thrown out by the court. I got out of one ticket like that back in the 1990's, several years ago I got out of another one because the cop wrote an incorrect VIN number on the ticket. It's worth it to go to court for traffic tickets, 70% of the time you will win.
All he has to do is get a copy of your cell phone records, which will document the date and time of your activity on the phone, if you were on the phone.
If you were not on the phone, the charges would be dropped.
Trust me, having worked in the legal field for 15 years, no law enforcement agency is going go through the time and effort of getting a subpeona for cell phone records for a $100 traffic violation....
When the judge asks you a question, you WILL be under oath.
In Georgia you would also get a ticket for having tinted windows. You could go to court but my experience is that the judge will ignore any defense you might present unless you have a lawyer.
” Do you want a society without any law enforcement whatsoever? Really?”
This is analogous to the 15mph sign being hidden behind some brush and a cop waiting to nail people who don’t see the sign (a few places in King George County VA like that)
Nothing wrong with speed limits, but the goal should be safe driving, not revenue collection.
Look at this guy: he’ll issue a ticket if somebody is using a navigation program on the phone, but not if they are using a Garmin.
He’ll issue a ticket if they are at a light (maybe looking for a way out of tyre traffic jam), but the person could be jabbering away on the phone, but no problem.
I wonder if he would pull a woman over for curling her hair or putting on panty house while speeding down 485? (I’ve seen both) Our the guy eating dinner behind the wheel. Out the pour mother with screaming toddlers? Or ...
This dude its just a revenue collector.
This LEO moron, stress moron, wants us trying to read a paper map with tiny text and legends while driving. Yeah, that's loads safer than listening to a voice telling you to turn right in 1/4 mile.
Just to be sure you heard me, this LEO is a moron!
jmo
Vey much reminds me of the character Javert in Les Miserables.
...then they act all pissed off that you honk at them to get going.
Having gone to traffic court for tickets several times before, the only questions I have ever been asked by the judge is the standard "Your Name?" "Do you dispute this ticket?" Then the judge would call the ticketing officer to the stand who would give his side. "At 3:42 PM Wednesday the 22, I observed the defendent texting....etc" Then I would have an opportunity to question him. The judge isn't permitted to ask "Did you do it?", "Were you on a cell phone?" (that would be forced self incrimination).
You have to have rather dark windows to get a ticket in Georgia. More than 32% on the side and back windows and the top 6 inches of the windshield.
Agreed. Texters are dangerous to everyone.
However, this was disturbing: “Gwinnett County Police Officer Jessie Myers said if you do anything on your phone besides make or receive a phone call, he will pull you over.”
I thought it was already illegal to talk on the phone, including making or receiving calls. Texters are not the only hazards on the road. After all these years of cell phone use, people STILL drive extremely slowly or dangerously while on the phone, yet these people are excluded from his ticketing.
A lot of morons don’t notice when the light turns green, who aren’t texting.
Next up: an app that shows where the all pigs are, real time, and advises you to put down your mobile device when one becomes near. Probably that app would be censored by the state, for “national security” reasons. Although it’s really just all about the revenue.
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