SolidGranite

Using your phone while driving is WORSE than being drunk behind the wheel. The fine for this should be just as severe IMO.

Arrie

"...I saw the cop before I even touched or looked at my cell phone..."

So you touched and looked at your cell phone as before you did it you saw the cop. What probably happened is the cop going in the opposite direction saw you driving with your eyes down and you noteced him only when he already was making the U-turn behind you.

Your car has a total hands free system for all legal things you are allowed to do with your phone while driving. There should be no need to even touch the phone unless you want to do some illegal action with it while driving, i.e. texting or email.

By far most cops are not stupid. There always is a "bad apple" in any group of people but cops are good.

jesydney

You guys in the States have it easy. Come downunder, oz, and you WILL be taxed, fined your pants off. The legal mafia will take your body if possible. That's how the economy is so good here. Go 1kph over and they say that you are going to kill somebody. But drivers here have no clue as to driving ethics. Unfortunately the ones that don't get caught ARE THE ones that cause the accidents and frustrating others.

Well, that's my rant, hate front plates too but I would have to agree with peeps that sexting oops texting and anything to do with the phone is a big no no. I've followed those who are doing something with the phone and their attention is definately not on driving, especially those trying to talk and change gears at the same time.

So are cops good or bad? Bad if you get a rookie who needs to meet quotas and they are high $ value. Good when they actually net in somebody on the phone but that is rare. Its easier for them to just sit in the car to radio over "speeders" to waiting rookies down the road.

I use my phone to take calls on my blu2 but sometimes I have to stop because it is too distracting to my attention on the road.

If you drive a mercedes, its all about fun, comfort and safety, do what yout conscious tells you, and how you want to represent mercedes. I certainly do not want to be in a volvo.

Car drvr

Kill yourself. Before you'll kill someone else while driving your car. Of course, this is a joke (or not? ).
The best serious advice was already given - go to court, look nice, behave nice, they might let you go without any penalty. The laws exist to protect people (including YOU), regardless of your subjective opinions about "Police robbing people off their hard-earned money", if noone would obey any of them - you wouldn't even be able to come out of your house and come back in alive. Some people CAN safely text and drive at the same time, but a lot of people CANNOT do that without endangering everyone on the road (how would YOU like if some inattentive retard will t-bone you at 60 mph because he/she was only paying attention to his/her smartphone?), and there's currently no practical and cost-effective way of distinguishing such people before giving them driver's license, that's why we have such laws like these and that's why police NEEDS to enforce them.

MB500

That would be a very cool feature to introduce on smartphone phones -- lock texting and other functionality if the phone senses the speed of more that 10 mph. That shouldn't be very hard to do since a typical smartphone has all the components to detect speed.

Car drvr

That's also not the best solution. The better solution would be to improve the voice recognition so you could do all stuff without taking your hands off the wheel and eyes off the road. Mercedes is trying to do that, but it's still not here yet: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/3054...e-kit-plus.htm
Of course, it's also not a PERFECT solution since you still need to think about different things when interacting with such system (even when using your voice), and many people can't do that properly.

BM2BZ

that's what i meant. if fact, every day i see people talking w/their cell while driving and i always stare at those people and shake my head.

BM2BZ

talk about things distract people while driving. google will probably make a pair of high-tech glasses and you can do everything same as and/or more than a smartphone. that could be way worse than texting or talking on a cell.

K-A

What I don't get is how automakers are getting away with putting things like Internet in cars nowadays. How is that legal? I mean, it's better than idiots on the their Smartphone's surfing the Web while driving, but I don't think a "lesser of two evils" is the best route to take here, at least not yet.

I wonder if they will eventually force automakers to employ whatever substances are used to make areas "dead zones" from phone service, in regards to how car are built.

hyperion667

I have a solution: make your calls, then go wherever you were going to go.....
I see my neighbors ALL THE TIME......they're so lame.........they get in the car and straight away start making calls......

WTF????
were you just in your house getting ready to go??

evanswan

They put up trap left turn signs 15 feet up. It's like looking for a *** airplane. cops pulling people over all day long. It's the best business model ever invented. I hate cops. 98% are dirt bags, ego and child hood proplems like most MMA fighters. If you want to be a cop think about your issues and go see a *** thereapist. Go to school and make some real money. quite pulling over honest hard working people on their way to work or *** breakfast or some ****. ****ers eye ball me all day in my rides. Jelous prics.

I swear the last one I wanted to take his head off. Meet me in public off duty and try to give me a ticket.

evanswan

Oh laser jammer coupled with detector

K-A

I never get this mentality. Sure, there are tons of a$$hole cops just like in any profession, but what do you expect they do? Let you break the law? If you owned a business, would you let me steal sh** because I would tell you that you're an a$$hole if you didn't?

Fact is, Cops have to deal with harsher and dirtier and more vile crap than I'm sure you could even imagine. My Cousin is a Cop, and I hear lots of this stuff first hand. You can't expect them to deal with the scum of the world, and even people who have a sense of entitlement like you clearly do from your post, and not get jaded.

As for "Go to school, make real money", which is not only hilariously stupid, they are entering a profession that is necessary for people like you and I to be protected. If you needed a Cop.... you'd call them. Too many people hold the double standard of "Help me when I need it, but don't bust me when I'm the one breaking the law".

Completely immature.

Live Oak

E. Swan, I'm going to assume you had three highballs (or 11 beers) before writing that.

If I'm wrong, then you are a complete ***hole, and will one day end up completely safe from the cops you hate so much because you will be behind bars, being protected by a bunch of people just like you.

If you weren't drunk when you wrote that, hopefully your incarceration will occur before you hurt somebody.

Arrie

+1

CEB

+2

Isn't it funny how the guys who all hate cops are also the ones always getting pulled over?

The average citizen gets pulled over every couple of years - often for inconsequential things light a light bulb out or doing 60 in a 55 in an enforcement area. These guys get pulled over all the time.

I also don't comprehend how these guys can post when they are blotto. Pick up a few beers and step away from the keyboard.

BM2BZ

i see this crap every friggin' day! it's sad to say but 98% of the them are women and i'm not even kidding!

RSIKR

+1!!!!!!!!!

filmstudent

don't complain about tickets on MBworld...noted.

haha, im very pro-LE...have a family full of law enforcement officers. im usually the one preaching on every other forum. most seem to be anti cop.

OP...you set yourself up for these comments...make sure to reread your post next time. either you were or were not breaking the law...i can't quite make out from your post.

OC is taking part heavily in National Distracted Driver's Awareness Month. Cops are specifically ticketing for cell phones, looking in every car. Additionally, all the highway electronic signs have been displaying 'DONT TEXT AND DRIVE - $159 NOT WORTH IT' for the month of april...in fact, just last week police arrested a woman in Orange County for texting while driving...she also had her 1 year old in her lap.

what city were you in?

BenzV12

I find evan's post a bit harsh but he has good points too . Some of them think they are rulers because of their uniform / suit . I have heard that they are chading people like childiren for nothing as well

These are *******s and defile honor of their jobs and put a sludge over their colleagues too .

I think there is no need to pull over someone unless he /she drives perilously over public roads or their car has major defects like burnt out lamps

CEB

Sorry to disagree, but the OP WAS breaking the law. He was driving 35 in an 50 and 'looking' at his cell phone. His idiotic rant deserves no credit. Evan, on the other hand, just piled on an incomprehensible string of profanity laced gibberish. That should also be completely disregarded.

BenzV12

I don't approve such driving habits , yes OP was wrong and I find it dangerous driving a car 35 in 50 zone ,same applies to cell phone too.

F1Bobby

That all seems minor compared to this don't you think!

http://www.godvine.com/Police-Office...ying-1065.html

Raymond Lee

I just don't use cell phone in car and I have front license plate on. At least that is my part of obligation. However, I did not like the idea of front license plate, either! Text message in a car is as dangerous as it can be!

thekurgan

Seems the real lesson learned here is if you mess up with the law, whatever you do, don't post about it here.