new ham law here in ct

[biomedbob]

I often (most of the time) see leo's on their cell phones. Official business? I don't know.

[PJH]

Russell, your not comparing apples with apples though

(Getting away from the OP, but....)

A cellphone violation is just an infraction...vs 14-227a which is a mistermeanor. The cellphone law is just like having a defective taillight and most of the rest chapter 14 statutes.

Just like having one headlight out...police officers will pick and choose simple traffic offenses to pull over if time/duty/call volume or just personal ambition allows. Many of use reguard the cellphone statue as another tool to pull someone over when you know they are up to no good.

DWI is another story. There have been many persons pulled over for seatbelts, fail to signal while officers are looking for DWI and the person actually performs well on the tests but there is still enough PC to arrest them and they have blow over .2 on the intox machine.

Pretty much most officers that I know won't grab you for "just" the cell phone unless your driving like an idiot, see a known drug/alcohol guy, on a distrated driving team or just wants to stop a car.

DWI's on the other hand is a much bigger problem and fairly easy to spot after the sun goes down just on driving abilities alone, never mind other issues. I watched a guy stop at a light where you can only make a left/right turn (or straight if you want to go down into some woods) and when the light went green...into the woods he went. When I walked up to the car, he was plastered and had no clue what was going on. The last 4 miles I was behind him, perfect driving.

[russellmaher]

PJH, you make some good points and I appreciate your input.

The guy driving into the woods cracked me up as I can see that happening. The alcohol must have kicked in while he was waiting for the light to change.

Russell

[doctordialtone]

Originally Posted by biomedbob

I often (most of the time) see leo's on their cell phones. Official business? I don't know.

Bob,
Cell phone usage in CT is permitted for Law Enforcement Officers.

For us normal citizens, anyone can be stopped for "Probable Cause". This includes but is not limited to; erratic operation, a license plate lamp out or any lamp out, a "Loud" exhaust system, because you came really close to that yellow line, 14-236 or 14-240 (Too close or failure to drive right), someone made a complaint relative to the above and is willing to make a formal complaint or, because I feel like it and I'll make something up later.

Distracted driving is bad, no matter what. We've all done it and some still do it. Some do it well and some drive like they are drunk while they update their Facebook page, for instance.

I have a tricky right turn coming up - gotta go!