Man fined for texting and driving while in a Tim Hortons drive-thru - Polidicks

[url]http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/tim-horton-drive-thru-text-nets-287-fine-1.3344991[/url] [quote=CBC]A Beaumont man says he never expected a coffee run at Tim Hortons would land him in hot water with police. A.J. Daoust was texting in the drive-thru, last Thursday morning, when he was issued a $287 ticket for distracted driving. Daoust had just answered a text on his phone when he got a tap on the window. "All of a sudden someone walked up next to me," said Daoust during a Tuesday morning interview with Edmonton AM radio show host Mark Connolly. "I didn't really know what was going on. I thought maybe it was somebody getting donations for something, but it turns out it was a policeman."[/quote]

Gotta love how the police need to justify their funding and so pull crap like this. The police pretty much just set up traps and farm tickets. "Oh, you missed the sign behind that tree", etc

Isn't the drivethrough on private (tim hortons in this case) property not a street? How do street laws apply?

[QUOTE=zakedodead;49224913]Isn't the drivethrough on private (tim hortons in this case) property not a street? How do street laws apply?[/QUOTE] Probably: If you are operating a motor vehicle laws apply. Like you can get a ticket for parting in a handicapped parking without the right tags.

[QUOTE=zakedodead;49224913]Isn't the drivethrough on private (tim hortons in this case) property not a street? How do street laws apply?[/QUOTE] Canadian laws may differ. I am pretty sure in Estonia (where im from) the rule is "No smartphone in your hands during driving period".

This reeks of "I need to meet my quotas which are stupid and shouldn't even be a thing in the first place" all over it since from the sound of it he was stationary (otherwise, how else would he have gotten a knock?).

okay now this is some bullshit I agree with this kinda of stuff on the road does the RCMP coppers have an quota or somethingh,.

[QUOTE=bord2tears;49224921]Probably: If you are operating a motor vehicle laws apply. Like you can get a ticket for parting in a handicapped parking without the right tags.[/QUOTE] That makes sense though. I mean, you wouldn't believe how many pregnant men I've seen!

[QUOTE=wickedplayer494;49224930]This reeks of "I need to meet my quotas which are stupid and shouldn't even be a thing in the first place" all over it since from the sound of it he was stationary (otherwise, how else would he have gotten a knock?).[/QUOTE] Dunno if its legal or not but Calgary and Toronto have ticket quotas.

that cop can't do that, that is private property, and as such he cannot write a ticket for operating a vehicle on it. its the same reason why you can't get a ticket for fender benders in a parking lot maybe its different in canada

[QUOTE=Sableye;49225006]that cop can't do that, that is private property, and as such he cannot write a ticket for operating a vehicle on it. its the same reason why you can't get a ticket for fender benders in a parking lot maybe its different in canada[/QUOTE] can we not armchair lawyer [editline]1st December 2015[/editline] it makes the wrong argument that detracts from the discussion that should be happening regarding corruption

[QUOTE=bitches;49225024]can we not armchair lawyer [editline]1st December 2015[/editline] it makes the wrong argument that detracts from the discussion that should be happening regarding corruption[/QUOTE] Well if it [I]is[/I] illegal to text in the drive-thru, then the cop's doing his job. If the law is unreasonable, then the concern should be directed towards the law itself, not the person enforcing it.

[QUOTE=bitches;49225024]can we not armchair lawyer [editline]1st December 2015[/editline] it makes the wrong argument that detracts from the discussion that should be happening regarding corruption[/QUOTE] Ive personally avoided getting a ticket that way, I got into an accident in a parking lot and the cop couldn't give me a ticket because its private property, again idk if its that much different in Canada but that's how it works in the US

[QUOTE=Mort Stroodle;49225052]Well if it [I]is[/I] illegal to text in the drive-thru, then the cop's doing his job. If the law is unreasonable, then the concern should be directed towards the law itself, not the person enforcing it.[/QUOTE] Officers are given discretion in part because the letter of the law doesn't necessarily reflect the spirit of the law in every case.

[quote]Provincial laws prohibit drivers from using hand-held cell phones, texting or emailing while behind the wheel. It applies to any road, highway or thoroughfare, whether publicly or privately owned[/quote] Right in the article Certain laws apply in the U.S like this too, for example you can still get a DUI on private property

Well here in Western Australia you can get fined for using your phone if you're in the drivers seat of a car, regardless of if the car is on, off, if you're on private property or not and even if the keys are no where to be found. When it's stuff like this when there really isn't any danger nor is it actually on a road, it's purely revenue raising and trying to meet quotas.

Reminds me of this: [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-9aS5AmrUQ[/media] Gotta get that department budget justified somehow.

How is this news worthy?

[QUOTE=Passing;49225136]How is this news worthy?[/QUOTE] Some guy complained to the CBC, and they decided to run a story to make people question Alberta's letter of the law along with the officer's spirit at the time.

[QUOTE=Zenreon117;49225092]Reminds me of this: [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-9aS5AmrUQ[/media] Gotta get that department budget justified somehow.[/QUOTE] while goading the situation is wrong, the driver was still in the wrong to not stop in that filmed circumstance

[QUOTE=Sableye;49225006]that cop can't do that, that is private property, and as such he cannot write a ticket for operating a vehicle on it. its the same reason why you can't get a ticket for fender benders in a parking lot maybe its different in canada[/QUOTE] It's almost like people don't know how to read the article. Literally at the bottom... [quote]Provincial laws prohibit drivers from using hand-held cell phones, texting or emailing while behind the wheel. It applies to any road, highway or thoroughfare, whether publicly or privately owned.[/quote]

[QUOTE=Mort Stroodle;49225052]Well if it [I]is[/I] illegal to text in the drive-thru, then the cop's doing his job. If the law is unreasonable, then the concern should be directed towards the law itself, not the person enforcing it.[/QUOTE] Gotta enforce laws to a T, am I right? If this man wasn't given the ticket, who knows what chaos would have ensued? All we can hope is that the man was working a minimum wage job, because non-income-based fines are fair. (~35 hours worth of work on Nevada's minimum wage.) Police officers like this deserve to lose their job for being gigantic assholes. Put someone else in that spot, please.

[QUOTE=bord2tears;49224921]Probably: If you are operating a motor vehicle laws apply. Like you can get a ticket for parting in a handicapped parking without the right tags.[/QUOTE] In most places, handicap parking spots are an exception to the rule of private property. Maybe there's something about it being a commercial property. Maybe it's just a cop fishing for tickets.

To be honest, if you use your phone in a drive thru, you're an ass. Especially if you don't pay attention and tie up the line and the drive-thru times. At Tim Hortons we are under constant strain and stress to meet a certain drive-thru time - and it is not by any means easy to meet between the people dropping money, waiting until they're at the window to go through their bag and get their money - you would be amazed at how many people roll up to the window and continue texting until we ask for the money, and then go to get the money - even though the total is displayed the entire time. This adds almost 15-20 seconds to the window time usually. They want us to have you cashed out, your product handed to you, and you gone by the 25 second mark. You can see how this is an issue. It is immensely frustrating because this gets taken out on us, the staff, and the management. Head Office wrings us a new one if we don't meet our times. Don't treat a drive-thru as a parking lot. Don't stop and use your phone. Pay attention. Not saying that the dude deserved a ticket, that's another issue entirely - just felt the need to say the above. lol.

Texting while driving is incredibly dangerous and deserves a ticket. Texting while waiting in a queue at the drive through for your morning cup of coffee? Not so much. As a general rule of thumb, if an officer is able to walk up and tap your window to get your attention, you're not really "driving," are you?

if you're texting while basically parked you aren't driving come on

[QUOTE=BazzBerry;49225343]To be honest, if you use your phone in a drive thru, you're an ass. Especially if you don't pay attention and tie up the line and the drive-thru times. At Tim Hortons we are under constant strain and stress to meet a certain drive-thru time - and it is not by any means easy to meet between the people dropping money, waiting until they're at the window to go through their bag and get their money - you would be amazed at how many people roll up to the window and continue texting until we ask for the money, and then go to get the money - even though the total is displayed the entire time. This adds almost 15-20 seconds to the window time usually. They want us to have you cashed out, your product handed to you, and you gone by the 25 second mark. You can see how this is an issue. It is immensely frustrating because this gets taken out on us, the staff, and the management. Head Office wrings us a new one if we don't meet our times. Don't treat a drive-thru as a parking lot. Don't stop and use your phone. Pay attention. Not saying that the dude deserved a ticket, that's another issue entirely - just felt the need to say the above. lol.[/QUOTE] Calm down buddy, the dude grabbed his phone to answer a text he just received, he wasn't holding up a line, he wasn't sitting there for an hour.

[QUOTE=gbtygfvyg;49225386]Calm down buddy, the dude grabbed his phone to answer a text he just received, he wasn't holding up a line, he wasn't sitting there for an hour.[/QUOTE] Based on his account. You really think the cop would have known to walk up to his window and ticket him based on him 'quickly responding to 1 text'? I wouldn't be surprised if he was holding up the line and the cop was situated behind him. Taken from the article: [quote]"I asked him, 'In a drive-thru, is this even possible?' " said Daoust, who believes the officer was also waiting in the drive-thru line, inside an undercover police car. [/quote] Seems to me that likely what I described above is what occurred. Again, though, I don't think he deserved a ticket. I was just letting people know that not paying attention in drive-thru lines has consequences for others.

[QUOTE=BazzBerry;49225392]Based on his account. You really think the cop would have known to walk up to his window and ticket him based on him 'quickly responding to 1 text'? I wouldn't be surprised if he was holding up the line and the cop was situated behind him.[/QUOTE] Meeting pointless speculation with pointless speculation always leads to enlightening discussions.

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;49225405]Meeting pointless speculation with pointless speculation always leads to enlightening discussions.[/QUOTE] Edited my post above, but this was in the article: [quote]"I asked him, 'In a drive-thru, is this even possible?' " said Daoust, who believes the officer was also waiting in the drive-thru line, inside an undercover police car. [/quote] I'm just saying - if the cop was behind him in the line (or in front of him), I doubt he would have written him a ticket for using his phone if he wasn't holding up the line; [B]i.e[/B] driving distracted