I thought I would start a thread about an incident I encountered last week.
Background: I am currently a patrol officer with 30 yrs experience. Cell phone use while driving is illegal and this includes texting/talking or holding any wireless communication device while driving. Driving is included to be stopped at a red light. In order to lawfully use your device, you must pull off to the side of the road, put your car in Park.
I feel that cell phone use while driving is an epidemic and clearly constitutes distracted driving.
Incident: I am driving a marked police cruiser and observe a driver stopped at a red light clearly talking on the cell phone. I pull the driver over and charge the driver with appropriate offence. The driver began to tell me that it wasn't fair because the driver's child had called for a ride home from school. We talked for a bit about blue tooth and hands free. But the point that struck me was that the driver felt that they were entitled to speak on the phone due to the nature of the call.
I did not start this thread for Bitoger's to tell me I should have warned the driver. I would like to hear views from other drivers about why they text/talk while driving. Is the call or text that important?
Thanks for taking the time to read this thread and I look forward to your responses.
Background: I am currently a patrol officer with 30 yrs experience. Cell phone use while driving is illegal and this includes texting/talking or holding any wireless communication device while driving. Driving is included to be stopped at a red light. In order to lawfully use your device, you must pull off to the side of the road, put your car in Park.
I feel that cell phone use while driving is an epidemic and clearly constitutes distracted driving.
Incident: I am driving a marked police cruiser and observe a driver stopped at a red light clearly talking on the cell phone. I pull the driver over and charge the driver with appropriate offence. The driver began to tell me that it wasn't fair because the driver's child had called for a ride home from school. We talked for a bit about blue tooth and hands free. But the point that struck me was that the driver felt that they were entitled to speak on the phone due to the nature of the call.
I did not start this thread for Bitoger's to tell me I should have warned the driver. I would like to hear views from other drivers about why they text/talk while driving. Is the call or text that important?
Thanks for taking the time to read this thread and I look forward to your responses.