Cops Pulling Over People Using Tablets While Driving

ByJim Miller

There's a time and place for everything, and fiddling with a smartphone, tablet, and car infotainment system all at once while driving a car is a recipe for disaster, and possible murder for those that are really careless and stupid.

Taking that into consideration, an unnamed guy in Vancouver, Canada was let off easy after cops pulled him over when discovering his jimmy rigged Samsung tablet and smartphone setup inside the steering wheel of his Lexus.

Over the years I've seen an increasing amount of people suddenly drive outside of their intended lanes, drive into the sides of other cars, and similar unfocused driving, and it's no surprise that it has coincided with the introduction of smartphones and later on tablet computers.

Every experiment and test on the impact on someone's reaction time and perception while using these devices while driving have all proven the same point, and we all know the answer.

Sure, Tesla's have large touch display built in to the middle of the center console, resembling a tablet, but it's not there for entertainment reasons, though there's enough options and feature to get distracted by there too. So car makers should be careful too.

In the same week, cops in Vancouver also pulled over another guy playing Pokemon on his tablet while driving past two cops. He also got a $368 ticket.

Famed comedian Steve Martin did a sarcastic spin on a similar experience of his own from last year, when his taxi driver was watching a TV in his car while driving, with Steve Martin commenting “At least our taxi driver isn't texting. Just watching TV.”

There's a time and place for everything, and distractive use of mobile tech while driving isn't one of those times or places.

Have a safe weekend everyone!

– Tom Bowen