A woman drives with both hands on the wheel. Her phone sits face-down on her lap. No officer pulls her over. No lights flash. Weeks later, a $1,251 ticket arrives in the mail. The evidence: a single frame from a Camera surveillance app. The charge: phone use while driving.

Automated camera companies market their devices as automated license plate readers — tools for catching stolen cars, flagging warrants, and aiding serious investigations.

Sold as a Crime Tool. Used as a Fine Machine.

  • BCsven@lemmy.ca
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    20 hours ago

    That’s the law here. Phone has to be securely stowed. Driving with it on your lap gets you a distracted driving ticket. Even if you weren’t planning on looking at it. A sudden traffic move means its falling on the floor and driver is going to try to reach for it.

    • i_stole_ur_taco@lemmy.ca
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      3 hours ago

      My uncle once wrapped his car around a telephone pole because an orange fell off the seat and he was trying to pick it up.

      I feel like there’s a clever fruit/apple/iphone joke in there somewhere but I can’t find it and I give up.

      • BCsven@lemmy.ca
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        58 minutes ago

        A coworker hit a parked car that way. Turning a RH corner he hooked his arm through the steering wheel to get to the passenger side, then popped up to see himself rear ending a car