Driver Fined $48K For Using Cell Phone Jammer

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Some guy in Florida was fined $48,000 for using a cell phone jammer in his SUV on the way to and from work. Makes you wonder if the rate of cell phone related accidents in that area went down over that same two year period.

The Federal Communications Commission says that Jason R. Humphreys used a phone jammer in his vehicle during his daily commute on I-4 between Seffner and Tampa for about two years before he was caught.
 
Or if there were any Amber alerts because the kids cell phone mysteriously stopped working as they were being taken away in the trunk of the car.
 
Accidents probably skyrocketted because people were fixated on making their phones work. Fine this guy more for thinking out of his ass.
 
While I sooo agree with the idea of making people stop using their phones while they drive around, jamming them is really, really bad. Even though most people aren't smart enough or considerate enough to be safe around other people when they drive, it has to be the responsibility of the person driving their car to put away their phone.
 
I think'd it'd be more karma if he drove off the road and was incapacitated while his vehicle burned, very slowly. He'd have plenty of time to think about the situation while pinned in his seat, and the jammer was still active.
 
Makes you wonder if the rate of cell phone related accidents in that area went down over that same two year period.

Makes me wonder how many the moron caused while people started actually paying MORE attention to their malfunctioning device then they were when it was working fine.
 
I actually love the idea.... in theory. I've had the same idea myself, I'd love it even more if I was a motorcyclist or a movie-goer.

However -- how greedy/stupid must this guy have been to actually get caught? Using it in a regular and predictable manner... jeeze.

I have no problem with the fine, laws are laws. Since it is, in fact, illegal to use a phone and drive at the same time according to the article I'd love to see heavy and hard enforcement of people talking while driving on their cell. 1st offense - $250 fine 2nd offense $500, 3rd offense - $1000, and it keeps going up from there.
 
The cell phone jammer is a great way to stop people from texting and talking while driving their car. Unfortunately, it also stops the guy stopped on the side of the road calling 911 because he's had an accident. It doesn't discriminate.
 
Or if there were any Amber alerts because the kids cell phone mysteriously stopped working as they were being taken away in the trunk of the car.

Or if <insert whether other shocking situation> that occurred at the exact moment he drove by said vehicle and the person loses all hope and doesn't try again.
 
I have no problem with the fine, laws are laws. Since it is, in fact, illegal to use a phone and drive at the same time according to the article

I don't know what article you were reading but I don't think it was the same one we read. It is not illegal to talk on a cell phone while driving in Florida. Distracted driving is illegal and just like drunks, if they see you driving stupid and you got your phone to your ear or you look like your texting then guess what kind of ticket you'll be getting.

http://www.dmvflorida.org/cell-phone-distractions.shtml

Driving and talking on a cell phone is perfectly legal in Florida. But should you do it? We've all seen drivers with cell phones glued to their ears changing lanes too close to you, rolling through stop signs, or just not driving well at all. One of the biggest causes of accidents in Florida is distracted drivers.
 
I would say - no, accident rates remained flat.

Why? Imagine a graph of cell phone adoption with the X-axis being time starting from, say, 1985 forward, and the Y-axis being percentage of drivers owning cellphones. Obviously the curve of that graph would start out very low and flat, nearly parallel to the X-Axis, then curving upwards nearly asymptotically to today.

Now, imagine a graph of automobile accidents from 1985 forward. You'll find that graph is relatively flat (don't look at car accident fatality rates because those have actually declined as cars have gotten safer).

Per capita accidents have remained flat while cell phone adoption has skyrocketed. What does that mean?

It means crappy drivers are crappy drivers. Before cell phones they were messing with their cassette players, their makeup, scratching that pesky itch, looking in the mirror picking their teeth, etc and getting in wrecks, now the time they used to spend being distracted with that crap is being spent being distracted by their cell phones. Take their cell phones away and they'll get distracted by different crap (perhaps with "why is my cell phone not working"), but stay distracted regardless.

Cell phones don't turn good drivers into crappy ones, and lack of Cell phones doesn't turn crappy drivers into good ones. Which is why when I see these "stamp out texting while driving" campaigns I have to laugh because again - common sense combined with relevant statistics show crappy drivers are crappy drivers regardless of what's distracting them. Nature abhors a vacuum. Take texting away from them, they'll find something else to replace it.
 
I understand his frustration, but not his efforts.
Here is a scary thought, what if that road rage killer, had one of these devices? imagine being ran off the road by a crazy guy who wants to kill you, and your cellphone will not work :eek: thats why its better to CWP than a working cellphone :D
 
Makes me wonder how many the moron caused while people started actually paying MORE attention to their malfunctioning device then they were when it was working fine.

So you and everyone else in this thread with the same type of comment are going to ignore that it is ILLEGAL to use the device in the first place?
 
I understand his frustration, but not his efforts.
Here is a scary thought, what if that road rage killer, had one of these devices? imagine being ran off the road by a crazy guy who wants to kill you, and your cellphone will not work :eek: thats why its better to CWP than a working cellphone :D

If you're driven off the road by a crazy guy who wants to kill you, then the cell phone is for calling the police to clean up after you shoot said crazy guy in self-defense.

But yes, that is exactly why jamming devices are illegal is interference with emergency services.
 
However -- how greedy/stupid must this guy have been to actually get caught? Using it in a regular and predictable manner... jeeze.

Dumbass used it for 2 years straight. Enough for the customer complaints to start piling up and the Cell phone company to have enough data to show it wasn't a fluke. Finding him at that point would have been child's play with good directional finding equipment since his jammer would have been broadcasting on multiple frequencies.
 
I agree with this guy. Keep the idiot cell phone users around you from crashing into you. Sitting at a stop light waiting to turn left and watch how many women drivers are on their phones.
 
Accidents probably skyrocketted because people were fixated on making their phones work. Fine this guy more for thinking out of his ass.

This. He was MORE likely to get in an accident as people (even with hands free) where distracted while redialing thier calls that where dropped.
 
I agree with this guy. Keep the idiot cell phone users around you from crashing into you. Sitting at a stop light waiting to turn left and watch how many women drivers are on their phones.

lol, sex generalization fulfilled!
 
The guy was being a self-righteous vigilante douche. Making someone play with their phone because their call got dropped does not make the road safer. No sympathy for this mall ninja.
 
I'd be hard pressed to think of a punishment I wouldn't support for this POS.

It's completely analogous to the douches who cruise at the speed limit in the left lane for miles on end as traffic snarls behind them, all in some self-righteous attempt to "keep everyone in line." Of course, at the end of the day, they're more dangerous and cause more harm than even the most flagrant speeders and aggressive drivers. Same principle here, and the fact this guy would go so far out of his way to achieve that result is enraging.
 
Since it is, in fact, illegal to use a phone and drive at the same time according to the article I'd love to see heavy and hard enforcement of people talking while driving on their cell. 1st offense - $250 fine 2nd offense $500, 3rd offense - $1000, and it keeps going up from there.

I'd agree if there was a little common sense applied with the law.

Someone glancing at thier phone or taking a call while they are stopped at a red light, or simply taking a phone out of thier pocket and putting it on the passanger seat is NOT the same as someone typing out a a text or email while driving down the freeway. People in California have recieved tickets for all those examples. Raising the fines will just turn this into an even bigger money maker for the state.

It's just like the red-light camera tickets. Most people assume it only applies to people who blow through a light after it turns red. However, over 90% of red light tickets are given out to people who did't come to a complete stop befopre turning right on a red light.
 
I think'd it'd be more karma if he drove off the road and was incapacitated while his vehicle burned, very slowly. He'd have plenty of time to think about the situation while pinned in his seat, and the jammer was still active.

Glad you aren't in a position of power. Thinking that death is a suitable punishment for causing a minor inconvenience is just sick, shame on you.

I actually love the idea.... in theory. I've had the same idea myself, I'd love it even more if I was a motorcyclist or a movie-goer.

However -- how greedy/stupid must this guy have been to actually get caught? Using it in a regular and predictable manner... jeeze.

I have no problem with the fine, laws are laws. Since it is, in fact, illegal to use a phone and drive at the same time according to the article I'd love to see heavy and hard enforcement of people talking while driving on their cell. 1st offense - $250 fine 2nd offense $500, 3rd offense - $1000, and it keeps going up from there.

No getting caught whilst on you phone should be a lifetime ban and a heavy fine. You can't ever let these people drive again, they have shown that they are too dangerous. They had there chance.
 
Here is a scary thought, what if that road rage killer, had one of these devices? imagine being ran off the road by a crazy guy who wants to kill you, and your cellphone will not work :eek: thats why its better to CWP than a working cellphone :D

Wremember, when seconds count, the police are only minutes away :)

And out here in California, as per a court case a couple years ago, the police have no legal responsibility to help/save you. They can legally sit there eating doughnuts, while watching you get beaten to death.
 
I think'd it'd be more karma if he drove off the road and was incapacitated while his vehicle burned, very slowly. He'd have plenty of time to think about the situation while pinned in his seat, and the jammer was still active.

Yeah, because that definitely makes sense. :rolleyes:
 
Cell phone use in and of itself is not a problem. If someone is using handsfree with their vehicle's built in functionality or just using it stuck to their dash for GPS and aren't TOUCHING the phone, I'm fine with it.

This likely caused more problems than it solved as the jerkoffs clicking away on their phones start screwing with it even more trying to figure out why their call dropped.

So while I sympathise with the concept, guy is a douchebag in implementation.
 
note to self.. if you ever use a cellular jammer.. only do so long enough not to get triangulated.
 
I'm just surprised that it was Metro PCS that noticed something was wrong with their service and wanted to get it fixed.
 
That'd be a nice feature for a motorcyclist... ESP depending on the range.

uhm depends on how you look at the situation. If this driver is already on a call. Your jammer cuts off his conversation as you get close to him. this driver is going to be focused on the cell phone and try to see why the call is not connecting while you get closer. I can see this thing, a good purpose, cause more problems on the road.
 
Here's an interesting thought -- was this guy's fine greater than the fine/punishment imposed on the kid who KILLED 4 people while drunk driving? Makes you think.

While I'm glad the guys jamming days are over -- there are way worse things to fix, namely the drunk driving thing.

You kill someone while drunk driving?-- after you sober up, you get a quick trial, and then are executed , no exceptions.

Caught drunk driving? -- lose your car -- no exceptions

Same thing with the people doing 55mph in the fast lane, sometimes it's tempting to become a cop JUST so I could pull over and ticket people like that. The downside would be having to deal with human garbage every day.
 
Accidents probably skyrocketted because people were fixated on making their phones work. Fine this guy more for thinking out of his ass.

Agreed. Plenty of cars run the phones thru Bluetooth and voice activated. Think of how much business this guy interfered with.
 
I strongly disagree, this guy should have been fined for sure.

First of all, what about passengers? They should be allowed to use their phones in the passenger or back seat.

And what if this guy was in an accident, and couldn't call for help due to his jammer still working? What if he is parked outside a restaurant and no one in that radius could use their phones cause he left the jammer on?
 
I very seldom make calls while driving. It only happens if I absolutely have to.

However, I do receive calls while driving. Preventing cellphones from ringing would lessen my chance of getting in an accident.
 
I've never been able to understand how talking on a cell phone is any more distracting than my daughter in the back seat and my wife in the front both talking to me at the same time. And people used to play with their radios all the time. I never heard of laws outlawing them.
 
note to self.. if you ever use a cellular jammer.. only do so long enough not to get triangulated.

You're dreaming. Twenty Years ago maybe you could slip by like that, with today's equipment it's almost instantaneous if they are looking for you.
 
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