THP using BIg rigs to catch texting and driving

[tennessee01tacoma]

Only if they catch you, lol I would say probably not

[jtmaze]

You may enjoy your sarcasm, but a lot of accidents & deaths are caused by people texting & driving. My BIL was hospitalized back in August with a broken arm & compound fracture to his leg because an assbag texting driver ran him off the road.

A friend of mine's cousin was killed in a head on 2-3 weeks ago. Mid 30's and going to lunch. Other driver(teenage girl) said a cat ran out in front of her. The problem is that there were no skid marks from the girls car. THP was going to subpena her phone records but the officer said it was not promising(very hard to prove.)

[GuitaRx]

I agree they should be punished if caught, but out actively stalking them seems a bit over the top to me. The cops have to see it every day, I do! no need to actively hunt for them. It would be easy for them to catch violators in an unmarked car..

[Dolomite_supafly]

Ask LumberJack about texting and driving. He will tell you how serious it is. He got lucky, very lucky while the other driver sent her last text moments before the impact. 

 

It is worse than drunk driving according to most studies you read. And I can guarantee there are more injuries and deaths caused by testing and driving than by DUI, at least for young adults.

[DaveTN]

If you pass this truck while texting you are probably drunk; two for one.
http://www.policemag.com/channel/vehicles/news/2013/03/18/tenn-trooper-uses-heavy-duty-truck-to-catch-texting-drivers.aspx

[luvmyberetta]

I agree they should be punished if caught, but out actively stalking them seems a bit over the top to me. The cops have to see it every day, I do! no need to actively hunt for them. It would be easy for them to catch violators in an unmarked car..

 

I wouldn't call it stalking. If you're breaking the law & endagering others, you should be caught. I think a lot of people forget that the police aren't just out to get you. They're trying to keep the roads safe for us all. I have a cousin that's a TN Trooper & he says the amount of dangers & stress they'r put under everyday is unbelievable at times. You can trust me when I tell you they don't enjoy traffic stops. It puts both the LEO & the citizen in danger.

[sigmtnman]

Probably should have checkpoints where they scan your phone real quick and make sure you have not been texting.

[Sidinman]

If you pass this truck while texting you are probably drunk; two for one.
http://www.policemag.com/channel/vehicles/news/2013/03/18/tenn-trooper-uses-heavy-duty-truck-to-catch-texting-drivers.aspx

I saw the truck in Jackson back in the summer sitting in their parking lot.

Wondered what it was about.

[Dustbuster]

breaker breaker you in the amc gremlin come out with your thumbs up!, holster your cell phone, and don't turn it off!! errrrrrrrrrrr errrrrrrrrrr  

i dont know how thp can afford the diesel burned to catch texters from a patrol semi....... id pay to see an attorney defend that charge, after a guy gets hammered by a trooper in his patrol semi .....gotta love it!

all humor aside............. don't text and drive........use a glock instead  

[Mike.357]

my truck is equipped to handle hands free texting through voice software.  It will read texts that are received and send texts that are dictated, all without taking eyes off the road or hands off the steering wheel.  There is nothing illegal about those processes.

Edited November 1, 2013 by Mike.357

[c.a.willard]

breaker breaker you in the amc gremlin come out with your thumbs up!, holster your cell phone, and don't turn it off!! errrrrrrrrrrr errrrrrrrrrr  

i dont know how thp can afford the diesel burned to catch texters from a patrol semi....... id pay to see an attorney defend that charge, after a guy gets hammered by a trooper in his patrol semi .....gotta love it!

all humor aside............. don't text and drive........use a glock instead  

Trailer free semi's can get 6-10 MPG, lets call it 8 for the average.  at 70 MPH they will burn a little under 9 gallons of fuel at a cost of 3.45 a gallon (rough number) that costs the department 31 dollars an hour to operate.  Each ticket is 50 dollars plus the court costs.  Even if they average 1 ticket an hour it still comes out profitable.  According to the article they made several stops in a matter of minutes.  Seems affordable to me.

[Dustbuster]

That's just for semi fuel, don't forget trooper pay ,time in court, insurance, idling that engine, insurance vehicle maintenance .... It costs more than fuel but thp's budget is always getting stomped on.
If it saves a life it's worth every penny,but the idea of a semi w emergency lights backed up by other troopers pulling people over for texting is hard to digest...humorous to say the least. Morons that manufacture drugs and distribute child porn get less attention.... Usually THP focuses on other things like DUI's


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2 of course it ate my spelling.

[TNcitizen22]

I'm honestly indifferent towards the program for the reason Robert Nashville stated. A $60 fine is hardly a behavior modifying punishment, as such I don't really feel it does any good. If the punishment was increased exponentially then perhaps. At this point in time the fine is a slap on the wrist.

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[Guest TankerHC]

My cousins 16 year old daughter was killed in a car accident last year in Georgia, the girl who was driving was texting. She is the second person in my family killed while someone was texting in the last 3 years.

 

The last person, and only two that I know of, in my family,  killed by drunk drivers were in the early 70's when a cousin and his wife were killed on the Jersey Turnpike on their wedding day heading to Atlantic City.

 

Statistical, no. Statistical enough for our family. Yes.

 

Texting while driving is extremely dangerous.

Edited November 1, 2013 by TankerHC

[TripleDigitRide]

I'm honestly indifferent towards the program for the reason Robert Nashville stated. A $60 fine is hardly a behavior modifying punishment, as such I don't really feel it does any good. If the punishment was increased exponentially then perhaps. At this point in time the fine is a slap on the wrist.

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True. The same can be said for almost any crime. Too much slapping of the hand going on, in general.

[Lumber_Jack]

April 1st. We were stopped in construction traffic. Lady driving white car was texting, going 60mph+, never slowed down. She never made it to the hospital. Any time spent stopping "texting while driving" is time/money well spent.

Edited November 1, 2013 by Lumber_Jack

[TripleDigitRide]

As someone who spends all day driving the roads in a semi, it is amazing how many people are addicted to their cell phones. I see countless drivers on a daily basis who can't even put their phones in the seat next to them, or anywhere else but their hands or lap.

Less texting. More flashing.   :dirty: 

Edited November 1, 2013 by TripleDigitRide

[npgunner]

Clearly ... they need to be on the road more.
And before someone chastises for taking a pic while driving, a passenger took the pic.

[TripleDigitRide]

Clearly ... they need to be on the road more.
And before someone chastises for taking a pic while driving, a passenger took the pic.

I recently read a story on one of the [local?] news outlets about a LEO being photographed while texting and driving. During the interview, this officer's superior said LEOs were exempt from laws related to using cellphones while driving.  

Edited November 1, 2013 by TripleDigitRide

[Hershmeister]

How would a police officer be able to discern that you were texting vs just dialing the phone or using a gps feature on the phone?

And for those who would suggest that their observation would open the door for a search of your phone to see if you were texting, what if my phone is password protected and i refuse to provide my password?

[glowdotGlock]

I drive a truck and see it all day long every day.

[npgunner]

How would a police officer be able to discern that you were texting vs just dialing the phone or using a gps feature on the phone?

And for those who would suggest that their observation would open the door for a search of your phone to see if you were texting, what if my phone is password protected and i refuse to provide my password?

They'll just call up their buddies at NSA who can look at your recent phone activity ... ...

[daddyo]

There are laws against drunk driving, yet people still do it.

 

More laws are not going to prevent people from texting and driving, just like more gun laws are not going to prevent criminals and stupid people from misusing firearms.

 

Laws punish, but they don't prevent people from being killed or seriously hurt.

[~48_South~]

 Is there more than one officer in the truck, a driver and a spotter or just the driver looking? If its only a driver looking or if the driver is constantly looking like in the video then I find it pretty funny and ironic. A guy in a big truck out looking for people who are not paying attention to the road while driving, by not paying attention to the road while driving himself. I guess the good thing is if a car in front of him brakes suddenly while he is peering off into the car beside him it will likely only kill everyone in the car he hits and the officers will remain safe in the big truck. I drive a relatively big truck as well (International 4700) and its not often that I notice people texting while driving likely due to the fact that Im always focused on the road and cars around me not the people in the cars or what they are doing. Taking my attention off the road for the couple of seconds it takes to figure out what Joe Bob is fumbling with is plenty of time for a very bad chain of events to start and be over before I even know what happened. I mostly drive my truck in the city or on highways and things tend to happen at a way faster pace than that on the interstate, but regardless I think the driver should be focused on his job(driving safely) and have someone else looking for people violating the law. 

[DaveTN]

How would a police officer be able to discern that you were texting vs just dialing the phone or using a gps feature on the phone?

The stories I read said it really doesn’t matter; they just write you under the due care statute that covers all those things; distracted driving is illegal.
 

And for those who would suggest that their observation would open the door for a search of your phone to see if you were texting, what if my phone is password protected and i refuse to provide my password?

If they have cause to search it, they would just seize it and get either a court order or a warrant (depending on the latest court ruling) and have a tech unlock it. I doubt it would go that far unless it was a serious accident. They probably would just ticket you and you could make your case in traffic court.