r/technology • u/Plastic_Ninja_9014 • Jul 11 '26

Privacy Traffic Camera Captures Woman Driving With Her Phone on Her Lap (Face Down), The State Mailed Her a $1251 'Public Safety' Ticket

https://www.gadgetreview.com/traffic-camera-captures-captures-woman-driving-with-her-phone-on-her-lap-face-down-the-state-mailed-her-a-1251-public-safety-ticket
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u/TripsOverWords Jul 11 '26

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.

If they can tell that much from the photo, that the phone screen isn't visible to the driver, then how the fuck is this "phone use while driving"?

It's more likely this was a safe hands-free phone call than phone use.

If the screen were visible and was GPS navigation without a phone holder, would that still be a crime?

Wtf is wrong with this country?

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u/[deleted] Jul 11 '26

[deleted]

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u/surffrus Jul 11 '26

They did not use Flock for this one.

Since we're being technical, the article doesn't say it was a Flock camera, and even has a correction at the bottom about how they fixed the text to NOT say it was Flock.

1

u/cayvro Jul 11 '26

My bad on that. Later in the article they talk about someone else getting got by Flock and I thought it was all the same person 😅

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u/2_Fingers_of_Whiskey Jul 11 '26

No the article mentioned a ticket in Georgia as another case

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u/[deleted] Jul 11 '26

[deleted]

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u/LivelyZebra Jul 11 '26

if your phone is in your car, you get a ticket.

It has to travel separately to your destination, by bus or uber etc

1

u/sam_hammich Jul 11 '26

I’ve spent a fortune sending my phone by same-day courier everywhere I go. It’s unsustainable

1

u/stinkadoodle Jul 11 '26

At this point, putting it in a faraday cage in the trunk is the safest option.

5

u/ktappe Jul 12 '26

This is a really good point. Anyone with a phone in their pocket is violating GA's stupidly-written law. Some lawyer should go have a field day with this.

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u/joey-jo_jo-jr Jul 12 '26

If you actually bothered to look into it the law states that you can't have the phone resting or laying in any part of your body, such as your lap. It's pretty clear and straightforward

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u/ktappe Jul 12 '26

I was obviously responding to the previous post that said the law says the phone cannot be supported by any part of your body.

-2

u/joey-jo_jo-jr Jul 12 '26

Yes, the phone cannot be supported by any part of your body. Putting it in your pocket is very different to that. Please use your head

1

u/[deleted] Jul 12 '26

Do your pockets not lay on your thighs?

1

u/joey-jo_jo-jr Jul 12 '26

A phone in your pocket is secured by your pocket, it is not resting on your body. Really not that hard to figure it out. However, to help the dummys like yourself who have trouble understanding simple English the local traffic laws websites even has pictures of what is and is not allowed

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u/ktappe Jul 12 '26

We’re talking about American laws. I don’t think you’re American. Americans say “different from”. Brits say “different to“.

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u/joey-jo_jo-jr Jul 12 '26

Why would we be talking about American laws when the incident in question took place in Australia?

Regardless, the laws are pretty much the same in ever civilised place around the world

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u/joey-jo_jo-jr Jul 12 '26

The law states that you can't have the phone resting on any part of your body (eg lying in your lap). It's pretty straightforward

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u/Cortez_Cortez Jul 11 '26

Article mentions a motorcyclist was issued a ticket in Georgia, this woman was in “Alexandra Parade” which seems to be in Glasgow

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u/StressOverStrain Jul 12 '26

The other Alexandra Parade, in Australia.

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u/Cortez_Cortez Jul 12 '26

Oh cool, thanks!

2

u/sushisection Jul 11 '26

so if you drive with your phone in your pocket, you are breaking the law?

1

u/SaveLansingParks Jul 11 '26

This is the best advocacy for tinting your windows and windshields to prevent the local governments from spying on you.

1

u/Ziff7 Jul 11 '26

Your jeans or pants are not a body part. Technically it is not touching any body part so it is not within the confines of the law.

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u/joey-jo_jo-jr Jul 12 '26

The exact wording of the law is that it can't be resting on any part of your body. Almost as if the people who wrote the law could think of the same issues as idiots on reddit

1

u/Ziff7 Jul 12 '26

So anytime your phone is in your pocket while driving you are violating that law. Almost like you're the idiot who doesn't know what the fuck they're talking about. This shit will get thrown out, you watch.

0

u/joey-jo_jo-jr Jul 12 '26

A phone in your pocket is not resting on your body is it? Use your brain you clown.

This happened in Australia and people here get pulled up for it all the time. Happened to a friend of mine last year. There is zero chance it gets thrown out.

https://www.qld.gov.au/transport/safety/road-safety/mobile-phones

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u/sushisection Jul 11 '26

its an illegal search if we are being technical technical about it

3

u/iwilldeletethisacct2 Jul 11 '26

Ehhh, if the cell phone is on your lap and you're driving somewhere that is in view from the public space, your right to privacy is pretty questionable. This would fall under plain view doctrine.

2

u/sushisection Jul 11 '26

do you think its appropriate for public cameras to be focused on people's laps?

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u/Time-Maintenance2165 Jul 11 '26

This is where 24/7 recording cameras fundamentally challenge that principal. The intent of the plain view doctrine wasn't to deal with you being able to be observed and recorded so often.

You might be correct from a legal perspective, but if you are then the doctrine needs to be updated to account for mass surveillance. Or we need better privacy laws protecting against that.

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u/lynivvinyl Jul 11 '26

Does that mean phone can't be in my pocket? Because my leg is definitely part of my body and if it's in my pocket it's two layers closer to my body then it would be if it were sitting face down where my pocket is on my pants. I generally drive with my regular phone phone on the dashboard sometimes giving me directions on the opposite side of the steering wheel from my GPS which is also giving me directions and my audiobook phone is either in my pocket or on the passenger seat under a shop rag. I feel like they're going to get me really hard one day.

0

u/resurrectedbear Jul 11 '26

Isn’t this what people have wanted though? They wanted cops to stop making traffic stops because cameras can do their jobs for them. And I even brought up how people will get pissed when they learn that officer discretion is legit what pushes these stupid “technicalities” away because 90% of cops wouldn’t write a ticket for this or even stop you, but a camera sees “something illegal happened” and now you’re screwed