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I cannot believe this is legal, it is certainly unethical.
To summarize the police in Somersworth are posing as panhandlers and evangelists in an attempt to catch drivers breaking the hands free law.
Link to the article is below, the following is a excerpt.
One driver, Michelle Tetreault, was among those ticketed. She received a $124 ticket for the violation. A first offense is a $100 fine plus an administrative fee.
She was in the car with her daughter and saw a person holding the sign, “Repent! The end is near!” After she initially refused, Tetreault said she took the picture with her daughter’s phone at her daughter’s request while sitting at a traffic light. After the light turned green, a uniformed officer pulled her over and told her the man holding the sign was an undercover officer.
NH state motto should be updated. it's a nice tribute to General Stark, but really doesn't make sense in modern times. We've gained our independence from the British, and NH has plenty of laws that conflict with the motto.
I don't recall cell phone usage while driving ever being one of the main causes of accidents in NH. They enacted this law to make it seem like its a huge problem. People continue to use them apparently with no increase or decrease to the amount of accidents so now they need to find sneaky ways to bust people. My peeve is that instead of busting everyone and there brother they should let it run its course to show that it was never a problem in the first place, but again, just another example of a money maker for the state, it has nothing to do with safety.
I cannot believe this is legal, it is certainly unethical.
Quote:
saw a person holding the sign, “Repent! The end is near!” the man holding the sign was an undercover officer.
How is this not entrapment?
State police make an unusual sign to entice people, who would not normally use their phone while driving, to pull out their phone and instagram the spectacle.
Not sure whether I support the law, I would need to take a hard look at statistics comparing states with and without hands free laws.
I was more appalled by the approach. The so called public servants provided this women with something to take a picture of, then proceed to ticket her for the action despite the fact that she provided no threat to public safety. Whether you oppose the law or not, no rational person would argue that taking a picture while stopped at a light is any threat to public safety.
It is the definition of entrapment. The analogy would be the police walking into a watering hole and paying for an hour of open bar, then setting up a check point in the parking lot.
Somersworth is a town with actual crime, I have to think their time could be better spent.
Edit - actually the analogy was a poor one, the drunken patrons would have presented a threat to public safety
Many NH residents are excessively proud of RSA 236:130, and there would be quite the fight to repeal or change this state law.
To get towns to accept red light cameras, would also need changes to the law so towns get a cut of the revenue. Not going to happen.
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Entrapment?
I like traffic lights... but only when they're green
