Fewer people driving.  More people using public transit. Or cycling. Or walking.  Healthier people.  Healthier environment.  Essentially nirvana.  The perfect society.

I had a lady actually follow me after I honked at her. She started screaming at me that I scared her kids and she was only looking at a map (with decals on her car from the town we lived in). If I really wanted to keep the situation elevated I would have asked her how scared her kids were when she followed a random…

The problem is that DUI’s aren’t considered to be major offenses; for first-offenders, you get a night in county and have your license revoked for a year...maybe.

Sounds about right! IIRC, in my state of NC, 76% of those who do get caught get it thrown out of court.

“Montgomery is one of the wealthiest counties in the nation so of course the drivers COMPLETELY ignored a cop posing as a homeless man.”

This is exactly my point a couple of bad apples ruin it for everyone. In my DUI classes they said that by time a person gets a DUI they have driven home successfully nearly 100 times.

Here in Austin I believe the local police department actually made this clarification formally - that texting at a red light was fine, but as soon as it’s time to actually move, put it away. I wonder if more explicit guidance from law enforcement about that would encourage people to at least wait til they got to a…

Really good point. Even just a new system for suspensions would be useful - I imagine if a texting driver even lost their license for a week they’d think twice about using their phone in the car.

I like your thinking. I’m 100% against undercover speed enforcement for my own selfish reasons but I did get a chuckle after finding out the cops in Montgomery County, MD used a ‘homeless man’ for distracted driving enforcement.

Vehicles much newer than that, say 10 years old make it really hard to put an aftermarket receiver into.

Sheeit, my 16 year old Toyota has Bluetooth in it. You can get a pretty good Bluetooth-capable stereo put in at Best Buy for about $150. Less than that even if you go with an off brand or single din unit. 

Yea, I mean it’s like scolding someone who litters on the ground - they already know it’s wrong and don’t give a crap. Still makes me feel better sometimes, and there are legitimately some people, even if only a small number, who might be affected by it.

I don’t text and drive because I’m too stupid to both pilot a 3,000 lbs vehicle AND type on a small screen at the same time. My daily has a manual transmission with BMW iDrive.

I see at least one person texting and driving every time I leave. But what really gets me is the people driving brand new Benzes, Lexii etc, doing the Kardashian “yell into the bottom of the speakerphone” move behind the wheel. THERE’S NO WAY YOUR BRAND NEW CAR DOESN’T HAVE BLUETOOTH. LEARN TO USE IT YOU USELESS…

the ones that bother me the most are the ones who drive while texting...with a passenger right next to them

I’ve got “passive” Waze and and audio app on full time in the car. But I’m not supposed to?

At least part of this could probably be remedied with stricter driver education, mandatory ongoing driver testing and continuing education, and stiffer fines and penalties.  Lose your license type penalties.  Money doesn't necessarily move people to change.  But loss of convenience and public embarrassment usually…

it always seems police steer toward the low hanging fruit

This is the one time I am thankful that cell phone companies record every bit of information on your phone. Just last week, a woman was convicted of manslaughter in NJ because the prosecutors were able to prove that she was texting at the same time she collided with a car, a car she rearended so hard that that car…

I read a report recently, I don’t remember where, that basically said that 99% of people who drive drunk never get caught. Which is just staggering because think about how many people are on the road around you every day with a BAC over the limit and it results in nothing of consequence.