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[The Unknown Poster]

15 hours ago, tacklewasher said:

Do they ticket you for texting in a drive through or a parking lot?

 

Drive through was (I think) Ontario and the parking lot one I'm thinking about was West Kelowna (BC).

I imagine they would if they saw you.  I've seen anecdotal stories of people saying they were in a drive-thru and didnt see police behind them (also in drive-thru) and the officer just wagged a finger at them.  But it seems most of these tickets are being given out as the result of specific operations.  The hobo one is particularly galling because they are soliciting charitable donations and in fact, soliciting drivers to engage with pedestrians in and around busy intersections.  But its about safety right?

I think there are also issues around police setting up shop on private business property.  I've seen them do it here (I got pulled into a check stop in the parking lot of a business but it was after hours).  I've also worked for a business where corporate was incensed that police set up a roadblock at one of the exits and were diverting traffic.  Im not sure the law on that one.

[JCon]

15 hours ago, tacklewasher said:

Do they ticket you for texting in a drive through or a parking lot?

 

Drive through was (I think) Ontario and the parking lot one I'm thinking about was West Kelowna (BC).

It's against the law to be behind the wheel and texting. Whether you're in a parking lot or sitting at a train, you can be ticketed. Only when parked can you use your phone. 

 

And, no, you can't just put the vehicle in park anywhere and use your phone (like waiting for a light or train). 

[tacklewasher]

6 hours ago, JCon said:

It's against the law to be behind the wheel and texting. Whether you're in a parking lot or sitting at a train, you can be ticketed. Only when parked can you use your phone. 

 

And, no, you can't just put the vehicle in park anywhere and use your phone (like waiting for a light or train). 

Which has nothing to do with safety. Just revenue generation.

 

The drive through was just stupid and the parking lot was empty.

[JCon]

13 minutes ago, tacklewasher said:

Which has nothing to do with safety. Just revenue generation.

 

The drive through was just stupid and the parking lot was empty.

No it's safety. You're operating a moving vehicle. No one being around is not a good excuse.

 

At a train, in park, I don't really see the issue. At worse, you're just annoying people and holding up traffic when the train passes. 

[tacklewasher]

49 minutes ago, JCon said:

No it's safety. You're operating a moving vehicle. No one being around is not a good excuse.

 

At a train, in park, I don't really see the issue. At worse, you're just annoying people and holding up traffic when the train passes. 

Wow.

[The Unknown Poster]

I think when the government pushes a program and says its all about safety and how much they want to reduce these infractions but everything point to their desire to generate income, its hard to accept.  Just because it ALSO creates a safer scenario, to me, doesn't change that the real motivation is revenue generation.  Its very similar to photo enforcement in that regard, especially in school zones where they specifically focus on "gotcha" rather than safety.

Someone driving down the street texting, well yeah thats obviously unsafe.  

Someone stopped at a 15 minute train, in park, looking at their phone...thats not unsafe.  So that sort of enforcement is designed to generate revenue because they know there is a captive audience of a large number of vehicles that they can catch people doing something for which they can write a ticket, but is not actually unsafe.

There are many things people do in cars every day from the absurd to routine that dont get tickets.  Everyone has navigation, satellite radios etc...things you play around with while actually driving.  Looking at your phone at a train, drive thru or red light is not inherently unsafe.

Personally, if Im at a red light and I have my phone in my hand checking a message or email and I look over and a WPS car is beside me and pulls me over, hey, I got caught.  I dont know that I'd be very mad at them.  The sting operations where we're paying a significant amount of money to dress up as homeless people to solicit charitable donations as part of a gotcha?  Feels yucky to me.

If you get caught by one of those pretend hobos, immediately press emergency on your phone, say you felt threatened by the approaching panhandler staring into your car and were calling the cops (you're allowed to use your phone for emergency calls).  Im kidding, dont do that.

[Brandon]

I find my friends equally distracted when trying to find music in the car...  

For myself I have a smart watch to check my messages and for me to be distracted....

[StevetheClub]

Mass use of self-driving cars can't come soon enough...

[The Unknown Poster]

9 minutes ago, Brandon said:

I find my friends equally distracted when trying to find music in the car...  

For myself I have a smart watch to check my messages and for me to be distracted....

Yeah my jeep reads my messages.  But if Im stopped for an extended period Ill glance down at my phone to see if a non-text message has appeared.  Its especially true when Im concerned about a potential emergency (elderly family, sick family etc).  But looking at my phone in the cup holder is no different then looking at my radio screen.  Im probably far more distracted cycling through Sirius channels or looking at the navigation

[Brandon]

35 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Yeah my jeep reads my messages.  But if Im stopped for an extended period Ill glance down at my phone to see if a non-text message has appeared.  Its especially true when Im concerned about a potential emergency (elderly family, sick family etc).  But looking at my phone in the cup holder is no different then looking at my radio screen.  Im probably far more distracted cycling through Sirius channels or looking at the navigation

In fairness some people are complete morons and drift in two lanes while completely focused on their cell phones.    I understand the reasons it's just unfortunate that some people really make it hard to defend cell phone usage while driving.    

I would like to see the police enforce more distracted driving outside of cell phone usage...  when driving on the very slow Portage Ave trying to cross Main I tend to see some really weird stuff where people are clearly not paying attention.    In the last while I've seen several times people typing on a laptop in the passenger side ,  ladies doing make up,   reading books,  and my favorite which I will never complain a couple of ladies trying on different tops while crawling in rush hour.    That last one was the only time I did not complain about waiting at a set of lights 3 times in order to cross

[The Unknown Poster]

43 minutes ago, Brandon said:

In fairness some people are complete morons and drift in two lanes while completely focused on their cell phones.    I understand the reasons it's just unfortunate that some people really make it hard to defend cell phone usage while driving.    

I would like to see the police enforce more distracted driving outside of cell phone usage...  when driving on the very slow Portage Ave trying to cross Main I tend to see some really weird stuff where people are clearly not paying attention.    In the last while I've seen several times people typing on a laptop in the passenger side ,  ladies doing make up,   reading books,  and my favorite which I will never complain a couple of ladies trying on different tops while crawling in rush hour.    That last one was the only time I did not complain about waiting at a set of lights 3 times in order to cross

Yes, I was wholly supportive of the police using the laws already in place in terms of distracted driving.  If they saw someone on their phone and they were all over the road, they could pull them over and ticket them.  They didnt need a new law.  Now, they can argue they made it specific for the purpose of increased fines but I wonder if they made it specific because they could create special projects to target usage regardless of evidence pertaining to safe or unsafe driving and generate a lot of revenue.

FOr example  before the law, no cop ever write a ticket because he saw someone look at their phone at a red light.  Now they run special projects planting cops on blvds, in busses, in over-passes etc, looking specifically for the magic cell phone, NOT for unsafe driving.

[FrostyWinnipeg]

The province has appointed a former British Columbia premier to conduct a major economic review of two Manitoba Hydro projects over the next year.

Gordon Campbell, the Liberal premier of B.C. from 2001 to 2011, is now the chief executive officer of Hawksmuir International Partners.

He will immediately begin a $2.5-million review of the Keeyask Generation Project and Bipole III Transmission and Converter Stations Project, and is scheduled to complete his review by December 2019.

[tacklewasher]

2 hours ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Yes, I was wholly supportive of the police using the laws already in place in terms of distracted driving.  If they saw someone on their phone and they were all over the road, they could pull them over and ticket them.  They didnt need a new law.  Now, they can argue they made it specific for the purpose of increased fines but I wonder if they made it specific because they could create special projects to target usage regardless of evidence pertaining to safe or unsafe driving and generate a lot of revenue.

FOr example  before the law, no cop ever write a ticket because he saw someone look at their phone at a red light.  Now they run special projects planting cops on blvds, in busses, in over-passes etc, looking specifically for the magic cell phone, NOT for unsafe driving.

Kinda my feelings on it. They've taken what should be a safety focused issue and used it as a revenue generator. I'm not arguing that distracted driving hasn't gone up with cell phones, but they really are talking it in the laziest way they can.

[Brandon]

2 hours ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Yes, I was wholly supportive of the police using the laws already in place in terms of distracted driving.  If they saw someone on their phone and they were all over the road, they could pull them over and ticket them.  They didnt need a new law.  Now, they can argue they made it specific for the purpose of increased fines but I wonder if they made it specific because they could create special projects to target usage regardless of evidence pertaining to safe or unsafe driving and generate a lot of revenue.

FOr example  before the law, no cop ever write a ticket because he saw someone look at their phone at a red light.  Now they run special projects planting cops on blvds, in busses, in over-passes etc, looking specifically for the magic cell phone, NOT for unsafe driving.

Easy revenue generator...  it's just like how they have photo radar vans in bizarre places where little to no pedestrians cross ,  yet ignore the areas near the school which have many kids crossing but very little people speeding. 

[The Unknown Poster]

Just now, Brandon said:

Easy revenue generator...  it's just like how they have photo radar vans in bizarre places where little to no pedestrians cross ,  yet ignore the areas near the school which have many kids crossing but very little people speeding. 

I notice they often focus on where the school zone begins/ends, hoping to catch those drivers in the midst of slowing down (or speeding up), where there is often very few children (and certainly not in the road).

[Brandon]

7 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

I notice they often focus on where the school zone begins/ends, hoping to catch those drivers in the midst of slowing down (or speeding up), where there is often very few children (and certainly not in the road).

Also studies have shown that adding an extra second or two for an amber light and red lights going both ways massively decreased accidents at busier intersections....   but doing that doesn't generate money. 

[FrostyWinnipeg]

Police warning: Korean weed smokers in Canada to face criminal charges .

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2018/10/119_257412.html

[The Unknown Poster]

 

Edited October 24, 2018 by The Unknown Poster

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

On 2018-10-18 at 2:06 PM, The Unknown Poster said:

I notice they often focus on where the school zone begins/ends, hoping to catch those drivers in the midst of slowing down (or speeding up), where there is often very few children (and certainly not in the road).

I got dinged on Grant ave at a school area- @ 2:30 am on a sunday morning. 

Good thing we are protecting those school kids out late at night

[bustamente]

Now the CNN building in New York is being evacuated because of a suspicious package, 

[The Unknown Poster]

 

[Bigblue204]

4 hours ago, wanna-b-fanboy said:

I got dinged on Grant ave at a school area- @ 2:30 am on a sunday morning. 

Good thing we are protecting those school kids out late at night

Schools zones are only enforced between 7:00am - 5:30pm Monday to Friday. So you got busted by just a red light camera...funny thing...easy to avoid those. Just don't go anymore then 8km over the posted limit.

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

2 hours ago, Bigblue204 said:

Schools zones are only enforced between 7:00am - 5:30pm Monday to Friday. So you got busted by just a red light camera...funny thing...easy to avoid those. Just don't go anymore then 8km over the posted limit.

This was years ago. There was no red light camera. It was right in front of a school that I think is used now as a adult e'd or esl training

[Bigblue204]

28 minutes ago, wanna-b-fanboy said:

This was years ago. There was no red light camera. It was right in front of a school that I think is used now as a adult e'd or esl training

well then you were just speeding and got caught. It wasn't the school zone that did it.

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

1 hour ago, Bigblue204 said:

well then you were just speeding and got caught. It wasn't the school zone that did it.

That is fair, but I am still going to ***** about it being a cash grab and that the original reason and justifications for traffic lights and those  camera cars was a provision that they would only be deployed around construction signs, community centres and schools for the safety of workers and kids.... 

 

 

😁

Edited October 24, 2018 by wanna-b-fanboy