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I'd love to meet the cops you frequently pass by, Rob. Sure, I see lots of drivers getting away with talking on hand-held devices in DC, but I also see lots getting pulled over for it. There's a cop who sometimes stands on 14th street and flags over and tickets drivers he sees on cell phones. I have seen traffic control officers in downtown intersections flag over and ticket drivers on cell phones. Once, when I still owned a car, I got in my car while on the phone. I was talking to the person I was going to pick up, and had no intention of continuing the conversation after driving off, but a cop stopped and waited for me to hang up the phone before driving off. The first day I lived in the District I had a cop issue me a verbal warning for talking on the phone while stopped dead in traffic due to police activity...again I was calling the person I was meeting quickly to let them know I was stopped and delayed. Enforcement isn't perfect, but it does happen. And the simple existence of the law stops some people from doing it. A "no cell phone" law would have much the same effect...stopping some people from doing it. Also, if a driver caused an accident, the police could subpoena their cell phone records and hit them with an additional charge should it reveal they were on the phone, which is an incentive to stay off the phone.

by Ms. D on Jul 5, 2012 6:30 pm • link • report