Did you know that police can pull you over and give you a ticket if you appear to be distracted while you are driving? It's called Driving While Distracted (DWD). The reason for the distraction is irrelevant - could be a cell phone, could be putting on makeup, could be eating, could be reading, could be getting amorous attention from a passenger ....
Know who the most frequent violators of DWD are? Your friendly police officers ....
As an example, back to our mythical city of Arlan, where I observed a young, Caucasion, male police office in his cruiser yesterday. He was driving at about 40mph on a four lane divided road, in a very heavy traffic area. His eyes were glued to the laptop computer mounted to his dash. His right hand was busy typing on said computer. His left hand held a cell phone to his left ear. His left knee steered the car. I presume his right knee was busy helping press on the gas pedal.
While driving beside him, I observe him hit a curb, and almost side swipe me as he tried to regain control. Undaunted, he proceeds at a rate slightly above the speed limit - the near miss doesn't faze him in the least. Highly dedicated, he is ....
Can you make a citizen's arrest for DWD? Amost all police cars are now equipped with full laptop computers, placed so that they are visible and accessible by the driver as the vehicle is in motion. All cops have their personal cell phones, in addition to the radios in the car and on their hips. How can these folks be safe drivers while monitoring all this crap?
NOTE - the photo above is NOT an Arlan police officer, and NOT the one I wrote about above - it is for illustrative purposes only....
In a semi-related note, I observed an Hispanic gentleman driving a PT Cruiser earlier. He was driving slow, about 10mph under the speed limit, and had me pinched in - couldn't get around him. Looking throught he glass, I see he is having a very animated conversation. He turns to the folks in the back seat, shakes his finger at them, and delivers some very not nice words, if my lip reading is any good. He then blasts his front seat passenger verbally. This goes on for a fairly long time - he's really letting them have it. The road finally widens, and I can get around. As I pass, it becomes clear that he is alone in the PT Cruiser. This dude is having a long, very loud conversation with at least three people that don't exist. DWD ... Driving While Delusional ...
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