The new cell phone law has not even been in effect for two weeks and a woman from Renton was pulled over because she had her hand up to her ear. That's right, she had her hand up to her ear, no phone, but she still received a ticket for the no cell phone violation. What happened to due process? What happened to the state having to be the one with the burden of proof, huh?
So now don't you dare scratch your head, put your hair behind your ear, or stretch while driving, because some officer who needs to meet his quota for the month might pull you over.
She says she's going to fight it and bring a copy of her cell phone bill as proof she was not on the phone at the time of the incident. Good for her, but it bites that we as citizens have to take time out from our day to go to court and fight bogus tickets like this.
Something similar happened to my husband last month. He was driving down the highway, and was pulled over and cited for not wearing his seat belt, yet he WAS belted. He showed the officer the belt clearly over his shoulder and across his lap, but the officer still wrote the citation.
He's mad and so am I; even if we comply with the laws of the state, we still get cited! Talk about abuse of power!
The only thing I can guess is my husband had on a grey hoodie and the seat belt is grey, so maybe they blended together. We plan to fight it in court, but he will lose a few hours of work, and we have been told if we want the officer to appear in court we have to subpoena him. No wonder why most people don't fight tickets anymore. But I know if the officer at any moment tells the judge he saw the buckle hanging near his shoulder, the officer needs to have his eyes examined, because my husband was driving an older Impala, and when not in use the buckle is near the lap, not the shoulder.
But from now on I'm going to drive with a wallet up to my ear.