RCMP pretends to be homeless to catch drivers using cell phones

[Timpo]

RCMP Officer Pretends To Be Homeless, Catches Bad Drivers
By Ron Seymour, Kelowna Daily Courier, The Canadian Press
Posted: 06/03/2015 1:55 pm


Cpl. Mark Taylor dressed in plain clothes and stood on a Vernon, B.C., street holding a cardboard sign that read "I am not homeless."

VERNON, B.C. - A British Columbia Mountie who posed as a homeless man — sort of — says the tactic was an effective way to catch drivers using cellphones or not wearing their seatbelts.

Taylor said some passing drivers still assumed he was begging for change and avoided looking at him.

He said that when he saw drivers using their cellphones or not wearing seatbelts, he radioed officers further down the road, and they ticketed 11 drivers in one hour on Monday.

RCMP spokesman Gord Molendyk said similar enforcement campaigns have involved officers impersonating construction workers or commuters waiting for a bus.

He said the method works because drivers are much less likely to realize they're being observed by police if the officer is not wearing a uniform.

"There's no law saying we can't do this," Molendyk said.

"The whole idea is education, and that we're serious about enforcing road safety."

Occasionally, Taylor revealed the bottom half of his sign, which read, "RCMPolice looking for seatbelt/cell phones."

Some law-abiding drivers appeared to appreciate the sly policing approach and gave Taylor a thumbs up.

Police plan to use a similar enforcement approach at other intersections in Vernon in the near future. (Kelowna Daily Courier)

RCMP Officer Pretends To Be Homeless, Catches Bad Drivers

[ODStryker00]

I know Vancouver does this too. I think it's a great idea. I hate it when I see other people using their phones while driving.

[dvst8]

Honestly, they should be ticketing people who are driving(in motion) and on their phones. When has anyone ever died in a stopped car while texting or cause an accident. Just saying.

[4444]

this is a perfect example of the kind of policing that is important to BC police forces.

now, whilst I do appreciate phone use whilst driving is illegal, dumb, idiotic, dangerous and i do not condone it at all (i also hate seeing ppl using phones whilst they drive), there are so many bigger fish to fry and wrongs to right that these resources should be allocated to.

it also speaks to the whole 'undercover' police culture, plain clothes cop cars, this kind of stuff... for traffic offenses. i don't know what it is about these kind of things, but they leave a bad taste in my mouth. go undercover for serious crime, not this petit crap.

[SoNaRWaVe]

this is not petit crap. if someone is stopped and using their phone, it is also likely they will be doing the same thing when the car is in motion. you are talking about the possibility of injuring or killing others on the road.

its all fine and dandy until someone you know or someone close to you gets injured or killed by some asshole distracted by a moblie phone while driving.

[StylinRed]

Originally Posted by SoNaRWaVe

if someone is stopped and using their phone, it is also likely they will be doing the same thing when the car is in motion.

disagree that it's likely, more likely 50/50, but i do agree with targeting distracted drivers, i'd like to hear more stories of police pulling people over for distracted driving on the highway, see it all the time, even with police right next to us but they don't pull people over -_-

[monkeywrench]

Originally Posted by dvst8

Honestly, they should be ticketing people who are driving(in motion) and on their phones. When has anyone ever died in a stopped car while texting or cause an accident. Just saying.

Although I agree texting while the vehicle is stopped won't harm anyone, sometimes it takes a little scare tactic like this for certain people who take this bad habit into their hands, as they are more than likely to be staring at their screens while up to driving speeds as well. As a result, these people would at least reconsider the use of their phone in the future IMO.

[4444]

Originally Posted by SoNaRWaVe

this is not petit crap. if someone is stopped and using their phone, it is also likely they will be doing the same thing when the car is in motion. you are talking about the possibility of injuring or killing others on the road.

its all fine and dandy until someone you know or someone close to you gets injured or killed by some asshole distracted by a moblie phone while driving.

i entirely agree, it is dangerous and stupid.

but there are much bigger wrongs in Vancouver, BC, wherever that I do not see this as the most efficient and effective use of scarce police resources.

but... it's fun for the cops and they generate a lot of revenue vs. say doing something about people in the downtown eastside or people breaking into cars, etc.

it's an easy job with guaranteed results vs. actual hard police work

[multicartual]

Cops don't even arrest homeless down here when they're riding $5,000 mountain bikes around...

[dvst8]

^ exactly. Way over paid for the task. Assign these duties to community volunteers or lower tier officers,

VPD Annual Salaries

Effective 2013:

Probationary Constable – $64,513
4th Class Constable (after 1 year) – $69,125
3rd Class Constable (after 2 years) – $73,738
2nd Class Constable (after 3 years) –$82,942
1st Class Constable (after 4 years) – $92,167
Salary Levels for 1st Class Constable

after 10 years – $94,421
after 15 years – $98,909
after 20 years – $103,396

[twitchyzero]

uncanny
inb4ilosemyjob

[asian_XL]

FHRITP!

[Timpo]

Originally Posted by dvst8

^ exactly. Way over paid for the task. Assign these duties to community volunteers or lower tier officers,

VPD Annual Salaries

Effective 2013:

Probationary Constable – $64,513
4th Class Constable (after 1 year) – $69,125
3rd Class Constable (after 2 years) – $73,738
2nd Class Constable (after 3 years) –$82,942
1st Class Constable (after 4 years) – $92,167
Salary Levels for 1st Class Constable

after 10 years – $94,421
after 15 years – $98,909
after 20 years – $103,396

Vancouver cops earning over $100,000 double in five years | Georgia Straight Vancouver's News & Entertainment Weekly

[xjc11]

Can cyclists get arrested for distracted cycling? I was downtown a few days ago and noticed some cyclists were using their phones while riding bikes

[meme405]

Originally Posted by xjc11

Can cyclists get arrested for distracted cycling? I was downtown a few days ago and noticed some cyclists were using their phones while riding bikes

Well you can be issued a DUI for riding a bike, so I don't see why not.

As I have said before, red light policing of this issue just exasperates the problem. Instead of texting at a red light, once someone gets a ticket they will simply answer that text or change songs while driving instead, because police don't enforce the law hardly anywhere outside of stop lights.

[melloman]

Eating breakfast and watching the news... and then this came up on Global:

TORONTO – The Ontario government vowed to crack down on distracted drivers and those who get behind the wheel while high on drugs as it prepared to reintroduce legislation Tuesday that would make the province’s roads safer.

A number of measures in the bill – such as stiffer fines and penalties for texting while driving – were originally contained in an earlier version which died when the June 12 election was called.

But the latest version of the bill includes measures to crackdown on driving while high on drugs.
Related

This March 6, 2014, image provided by AAA Foundation via DanCampbellPhotography.com shows driver during the Cognitive Distraction Phase II testing in Salt Lake City. Two new studies have found that voice-activated smartphones and dashboard infotainment systems may be making the distracted-driving problem worse. Studies find ‘talking’ to your car makes distracted-driving worse
Your Last Words is the name of the campaign which tries to send the message to teens that a text isn't worth risking your life. Texting and driving simulator shows risks of distracted driving
Alberta RCMP sending distracted driving tickets to registered owners of vehicles taking photos of collision, Friday, April 11, 2014. Distracted driving tickets for drivers taking crash photos

That included sanctions for drug-impaired driving that would see license suspensions ranging from three to 90 days, with motorists forced to take driving education or get treatment, among other measures.

Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca said that in 2011 more than 45 per cent of driver fatalities in the province had drugs or drugs and alcohol in their system.

READ MORE: Texting, dialing while driving more risky than talking: Study

He said the province is working with the Mounties to bring in a device similar to a breathalyzer to check if a driver is high while behind the wheel.

“Over the next number of months I am confident that we will have technology that will provide us and our police officers with that same sense of scientific backup for the suspicion, the reasonable belief and the failure” of a standard roadside sobriety test, he said.

Meanwhile, Del Duca also wanted the bill to help people break the habit of texting or talking on a hand-held phone while behind the wheel.

The legislation, if passed, would increase the maximum fine for distracted driving to $1,000 and impose three demerit upon a conviction.

It would also add distracted driving to the existing list of novice driver conditions and require drivers to wait until a pedestrian has completely crossed the road before proceeding at school crossings and pedestrian crossovers.

The bill is also aiming to make the roads safer for cyclists by increasing fines and demerits for drivers who door cyclists, and requiring all drivers to maintain a distance of one metre when passing cyclists, where practical.

The proposed legislation drew a lukewarm response from Ontario’s New Democrats, with party leader Andrea Horwath saying the Liberal government was sending mixed signals with its crackdown on distracted drivers at the same time a provincial agency is putting billboards on highways that have been criticized as being distracting for motorists.

“You can’t on the one hand say you’re concerned about something and then have the other hand doing something exactly the opposite of what you’re talking about,” she said.

READ MORE: Distracted driving top killer on Ontario roads

Ontario Provincial Police say distracted driving is becoming the No. 1 killer on the roads, accounting for more deaths last year than impaired driving or speed-related accidents.

A recent Centre for Addiction and Mental Health survey found more than one-third of licensed Ontario students in Grades 10 to 12 admitted to having texted while driving at least once in the past year.

Using handheld devices to text, email or talk while driving, except for 911 calls, has been banned in Ontario since 2009.

Current legislation allows for fines ranging from $60 to $500, which would jump to $300 to $1,000 under the new legislation.

Sauce: Ontario to increase fines for distracted driving to $1k, 3 demerit points - Toronto | Globalnews.ca

INB4 they bring this to Vancouver and start pulling in millions.

[mr_chin]

Originally Posted by 4444

i entirely agree, it is dangerous and stupid.

but there are much bigger wrongs in Vancouver, BC, wherever that I do not see this as the most efficient and effective use of scarce police resources.

but... it's fun for the cops and they generate a lot of revenue vs. say doing something about people in the downtown eastside or people breaking into cars, etc.

it's an easy job with guaranteed results vs. actual hard police work

It is dangerous and stupid if the driver is using it like a dumbass. Get a phone holder for your car, text only at red lights. People who text while driving are retards, however, I do that sometimes and I check the road literally every half second.

Nevertheless, this is a waste of taxpayers money. There are more important thing on the road than to catch people using cellphones.

[Ride]

Originally Posted by dvst8

Honestly, they should be ticketing people who are driving(in motion) and on their phones. When has anyone ever died in a stopped car while texting or cause an accident. Just saying.

Drivers who are stopped at lights and texting most likely hold up traffic behind them by not reacting when the light turns green and making everyone behind them miss the green which creates more traffic because of some asshole too busy texting

[jeedee]

Originally Posted by mr_chin

People who text while driving are retards, however, I do that sometimes and I check the road literally every half second

Calls people retards for texting while driving--admits that he does it too sometimes

nsis

[meme405]

Originally Posted by Ride

Drivers who are stopped at lights and texting most likely hold up traffic behind them by not reacting when the light turns green and making everyone behind them miss the green which creates more traffic because of some asshole too busy texting

Talking to passengers could create the same problem, as could eating, changing the radio station, and any number of other things.

If this law was applied equally across all forms of distractions, such as every bitch putting on mascara on their way to work, then maybe people wouldn't have such a problem.

As it sits though, the law looks like nothing more than a cash grab by the police. They are not actually reducing the number of accidents on our roadways with this type of enforcement. Texting at a stop light is not going to put you at risk of getting into in accident.

Sure I agree it might put you at risk of looking like a tool when you don't see the green light, but just as I alluded to earlier, there are literally a dozen other things you could legally do in your car which could also generate the exact same result.

Also the law and enforcement behind it is convoluted as fuck, I mean come on the rest of the MVA is written in generally concise and pretty easy to understand verbiage, whereas this law is so fucked up they needed to put out a seperate 5 page PDF just to explain what is, and isn't legal. PDF seen here:

http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/osmv/share...le-driving.pdf

And going off of this thread:

http://www.revscene.net/forums/68104...red-light.html

You can see that there is debate even among police about what the fuck is going on with this law.

[underscore]

Not this shit again. Any time there's a thread about the distracted driving laws or the RCMP doing anything other than using all their resources to chase down murderers and pedophiles some of you guys come up with some of the densest logic I've ever read.

[BrownBear]

rather they go after something that makes a difference like this over busting kids smoking weed and partying

[Bouncing Bettys]

That moment when you are on your phone, forgetting you are in the passenger seat, and you see a cop.

[Mr.HappySilp]

They should method to catch any cyclist who disobely the law as well (IE running through a red right, not stopping at a stop sign, do not shoulder check when making turns and changing lanes etc etc) and give them a ticket.

[melloman]

^^ A cyclist would never have to pay the ticket.

Atleast with motorists, if you receive a ticket, you can't renew insurance without paying that off first.. No such thing as bicycle insurance.