Tt post may 25, 2017

I wonder if the Ohio ACLU will make a statement, regarding Toledo police Chief George Kral's new nebulous, "aggressive approach" to law enforcement. Nothing yet from the ACLU.

• http://www.acluohio.org
• https://.twitter.com/acluohio

I infer that Toledo police now can pull a driver over for no reason other than a "belief" by the officer.

If a driver is doing nothing wrong and may not own a cell phone, then that driver can still be pulled over because of an incorrect belief by the police officer.

Yesterday's Blade story mentioned forms of the word "belief".

Toledo's police chief announced today that officers can pull over and ticket motorists who are believed to be texting while driving.

... motorists can be pulled over if officers believe drivers are texting and driving.

Today's version of the Blade story does not mention the word "belief".

Kral's new aggressive approach:

City officers can ticket distracted drivers under a separate, primary-offense statute: “operation in willful or wanton disregard of the safety of persons or property,” a minor misdemeanor violation on the first offense.

http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/4511.20

4511.20 Operation in willful or wanton disregard of the safety of persons or property.

(A) No person shall operate a vehicle, trackless trolley, or streetcar on any street or highway in willful or wanton disregard of the safety of persons or property.

(B) Except as otherwise provided in this division, whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. If, within one year of the offense, the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to one predicate motor vehicle or traffic offense, whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree. If, within one year of the offense, the offender previously has been convicted of two or more predicate motor vehicle or traffic offenses, whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004.

If a driver uses the cell phone and drives perfectly, Toledo police can consider that driver to be exhibiting a disregard of the safety of persons or property and pull that driver over.

Jamie Blazevich, the Lucas County Traffic Safety Program director, said texting while driving is a selfish act that threatens harm.

Kral's new aggressive approach is almost like a Minority Report thing.

Sure, the driver is operating the vehicle perfectly fine now, but since the driver is using the cell phone, then that driver may cause a problem in the future because of statistics.

Drivers are 23 times more likely to crash if texting ...

Like others, I'm aware of the alarming number of drivers who use their phones while their vehicles are in motion.

Excerpts from my September 2016 comment in a thread about bicycling.

As much as I would like to bicycle around Toledo especially from West Toledo to downtown, I don't think that I have the nerve today.

A serious distraction exists for automobile drivers today that did not exist in the 90s, at least not to the degree that it exists today. Of course, that's drivers using their cell phones.

From walking my dog around our neighborhood, I'm amazed at the number of drivers who slalom through the side streets with their heads down, viewing their phones. I never trust drivers to stop at stop signs. And some don't, blasting through intersections, zombied by their phones.

Despite the stats and my own observations, I disagree with Chief Kral's new aggressive plan. I'm always suspicious of a new idea when it's allegedly about safety.

As with any talent, such art and athletics, not all drivers were born equal. Some motorists can operate a vehicle perfectly even while snoggered while other motorists always drive horribly because they are natural born bad drivers.

Give a natural born bad driver any distraction, and the rest of society could be in danger. But some people are gifted with great reflexes, focus, anticipation capabilities, situation awareness skills, and peripheral vision, and they can probably drive well under any condition.

Kral's new aggressive approach assumes that ALL drivers are lawbreakers and a danger to society for allegedly using their cell phones even when the drivers have committed no other infractions.

Where's the slippery-slope concern?

Law enforcement around here love their nearly nefarious search and seizure checkpoints. Maybe Kral's new idea is a next step.

Toledo-based traffic defense lawyer Andrew Bucher said Toledo’s approach could be problematic for law enforcement, especially if the cited driver is not committing other egregious violations.