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

[QUOTE=clutch2;49226594]Our courtrooms have become a big contest between lawyers, an arena for them to do battle. The truth isn't what's being put on trial, but instead whom can interpret and twist the evidence to suit their desired outcome the best. A lawyer could watch someone be murdered, then turn right around the defend that same person in a trial if the price were right. It sickens me what it's become.[/QUOTE] Because it's your sixth amendment right to have someone defend you no matter how guilty you seem. It seems like the alternative to the situation you described would be the lawyer using their personal judgement to condemn their client, denying them even a remotely fair trial. Coming to the correct conclusion is the job of the judge/jury, not the lawyer.

[QUOTE=J!NX;49228544]So what is he going to do, physically get outside of his car after going out of his way to park it? I pull over to the side of the street for phone calls and park, should I get a ticket even though it's not possible for my car to be a danger?? I mean, I'm in a car, using the phone after all. There's a huge difference while driving down a road where you can actually kill someone or holding up a stop when you can actually hold up massive amounts of traffic, and confuse people turning, which can in turn cause an accident. if he takes to long in line, that's what a horn is for.[/QUOTE] You can pull over to the side of a street to make phone calls in Alberta so long as your properly pulled over with your hazard lights on. Driving laws in Alberta are sorta weird regardless of everything, one of the places you can actually change lanes in an intersection and it's completely legal.

[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] This is an asinine set of policies. If there isn't a queue, who honestly cares if it takes someone more time to go through a drivethrough? Sounds like more middle management "efficiency" garbage than anything else. Yeah it's rude as hell to hold up a line for other people, but if someone isn't holding up a line, and isn't being discourteous to you, nobody is being harmed for it. You as an employee are there no matter what.

I don't see anything wrong with this. In Australia, you can get fined and lose demerit points for using your phone at a red traffic light; not any different to being stopped in drive-thru (You are not aware of your surroundings). There's even a curfew law for Red P-Platers; they can't have anyone else in the car other than family members or anyone over the age of 25 in their vehicle between the hours of 11pm to 5am. The only legal use for phones in car here is that you must be stationary and the car must be in park with the handbrake on and it must be in a phone holder when you are driving around. Laws for New South Wales (I'm sure they'd be similar in most places with mobile phone use in cars) [url=http://postimage.org/][img]http://s30.postimg.org/exf9b3qj5/02eab94adaaf0b2d3f061662b3120526.png[/img][/url]

[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] No, not really. Officers have a certain amount of authority and discretion as to how they enforce laws. There's a big difference between being negligent and not doing your job and just not fining someone for checking their phone while they're stationary in a drive through. Police officers aren't meter maids.

[QUOTE=Wablur;49233035]Laws for New South Wales (I'm sure they'd be similar in most places with mobile phone use in cars) [url=http://postimage.org/][img]http://s30.postimg.org/exf9b3qj5/02eab94adaaf0b2d3f061662b3120526.png[/img][/url][/QUOTE] That audio line is actually retarded. So I'm allowed to faf about shoving half a dozen CDs into my stereo, twist all the knobs and flip levers, and spend forever tuning the radio, or do the [i]exact same thing on an ipod[/i], but I can't tap skip track on a phone? U w0t?

Devil's advocate here. Maybe the cop thought the texting behavior would persist on the street when the driver is doing some real driving.

[QUOTE=Zephyrs;49233151]That audio line is actually retarded. So I'm allowed to faf about shoving half a dozen CDs into my stereo, twist all the knobs and flip levers, and spend forever tuning the radio, or do the [i]exact same thing on an ipod[/i], but I can't tap skip track on a phone? U w0t?[/QUOTE] Either affixed to the dash [i]or[/i] voice activated. So if you stick it to the dash you can fiddle with it all you want, just like the stereo. They just don't want you reaching down to change tracks on a phone that's stuffed in a cupholder.

[QUOTE=Zeke129;49234082]Either affixed to the dash [i]or[/i] voice activated. So if you stick it to the dash you can fiddle with it all you want, just like the stereo. They just don't want you reaching down to change tracks on a phone that's stuffed in a cupholder.[/QUOTE] Didn't see the fact that it was 2 cells combined together. My mistake. Still dumb when it doesn't prohibit you from doing the same thing on an ipod.

[QUOTE=Zephyrs;49234231]Didn't see the fact that it was 2 cells combined together. My mistake. Still dumb when it doesn't prohibit you from doing the same thing on an ipod.[/QUOTE] It does

[QUOTE=Scratch.;49234884]It does[/QUOTE] How? It only mentions phones, not touchscreen devices in general.

[QUOTE=Zephyrs;49234926]How? It only mentions phones, not touchscreen devices in general.[/QUOTE] The table is talking about mobile phones you expect them not to talk only about mobile phones? I mean, you can come over and test your knowledge if you want

[QUOTE=J!NX;49228511]are people actually justifying ticketing people who are, texting while they are [B]NOT MOVING AT ALL WHILE IN LINE[/B] because I'm pretty sure you aren't going to crash your car when your car turns into a semi while you're pretty much [U]parked[/U][/QUOTE] Uh. No. It's not that simple. There is a reason that in Germany (and apparently also in the US) the law differentiates between parking, standing and stopping. If you're waiting for the traffic light to change then you're not parking either. You're stopping. For the same reason you are also not allowed to text while waiting for the green light. Most companies in Germany that have drive-thrus, and yes, that includes McDonald's or Burger King, even have a sign that literally says "on our property the German traffic laws apply". The staff and everyone else surely won't give a fuck but honestly if you get caught by the police then it's your own fault.

Dumb officer for sure. Officers have their own discretion they can use, and ticketing a guy for that is another appearance in court for the officer. He's only giving himself more work. If this guy shows up to court there's a good chance he can just get it completely thrown out, especially if he has no previous offenses As for everyone saying the officer is meeting a quota, Officers don't actually have ticket quotas. There's no set number, nada. Not even in Canada. And in the states every week officers have to basically put to paper what they've done over the week and if they feel like it's a bit light, they'll pad it themselves. These reports from all departments are also the same reports the FBI gets all their stats from No officer's going to give themselves unnecessary work because it does no good for anyone. Not them, and certainly not the person they ticket. Except for rookies. They may do anything. To the letter by the book zero discretion, usually. And on Midnights unnecessary work goes double because court dates are usually in the day and they still have to show up, even if they just worked all night

[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] I think cops are just trying to make a point that it's not acceptable in any way shape or form while operating a motor vehicle. But on the other hand it was a drive through so it's not really fair.

This strikes me as the same sort of thing as cops who sit out in the desert behind hills waiting for speeders to ticket even though it might be the only car around causing no danger to anyone.

[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] No. If, like I think, the law is under the Highway Traffic Act of Ontario, then it is only enforceable on public roadways. The HTA doesn't apply on private property unless specifically requested by the landowner, IIRC.