Calgary Herald poll - Should police charge looky-lous?

[Wormius]

From Calgary Herald's poll question:

"Should police routinely charge drivers who snap cellphone pictures of accidents as they pass by?"

Link to original Herald story

I am surprised by how high the "no" votes are.

YES: 73% (2451 votes)
NO: 27% (906 votes)

So, given that about 1/4 people Herald readers don't think police should charge the rubber-neckers, I am sure there are at least a few CPers who feel similarly. Personally, I feel that if you're impeding traffic or allowing yourself to be that distracted you should get a ticket.

Thoughts? Why would you vote no on this?

[habernac]

Absolutely. Drives me nuts that I'll be stuck in a long line of traffic only to see it's because a bunch of clowns are either busy gawking or trying to take pics from their phones.

[Looch City]

Wouldn't this already be covered under Distracted Driving law? Why aren't they charging them?

[Cuz]

Originally Posted by Iggy City

Wouldn't this already be covered under Distracted Driving law? Why aren't they charging them?

I believe this is the law they are using to charge these drivers.

On another note, why would anyone think it's in good taste to take pictures of someone else's misery?

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by Iggy City

Wouldn't this already be covered under Distracted Driving law? Why aren't they charging them?

That is what they are charging them with. They took down the license plates and will be mailing the tickets out.

[Northendzone]

i fail to understand these folks that are taking pics - do you whip out your phone in the middle of conversation about the weather or the masters, and say "hey, look at this picture of a wrecked car i took yesterday".

if you want to see pictures of accidents, look at google, select images and then search to your hearts content......

I hate driving by accident sceneses becasue i worry that i'll be teh @ssh@t that rear-ends somone as we pass by the carnage.....

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Cuz

I believe this is the law they are using to charge these drivers.

On another note, why would anyone think it's in good taste to take pictures of someone else's misery?

People have been slowing down to look at accidents for as long as I can remember (42 yrs old).

Honestly, it disgusts me. I have never understood people's need to witness someone else's discomfort.

[CaptainCrunch]

More then just a picture, it bugs me when traffic on one side of the deerfoot slows down because of an accident on the other side of the deerfoot because people have to gawk.

I'm all for public floggings for those and people that need to take pictures. But a hefty fine will do.

[Ozy_Flame]

I bet the 25% was jihaded by worldstarhiphop.com users.

[RW99]

I'm trying to think of a James Spader Crash joke, but I got nothing.

[Nage Waza]

Many accidents take place due to people looking at the results of an earlier accident and not watching where they are going. I always make sure my head and neck are placed correctly on the headrest when I have to slow down by an accident in case someone hits me from behind.

For sure, if you are not driving carefully, and you are allowing yourself to become distracted (ie taking out phone to take a photo) than you certainly should not be driving and you should be punished for it.

[Cuz]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

People have been slowing down to look at accidents for as long as I can remember (42 yrs old).

Honestly, it disgusts me. I have never understood people's need to witness someone else's discomfort.

For me too. I understand taking a quick glance to see what is causing all of the trouble (my usual thought is "ouch"), for me it's completely different whipping out your phone and capturing the moment for prosperity...

[Canada 02]

I've never used the camera on my cell phone. Why people do is beyond me.

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

I've never used the camera on my cell phone. Why people do is beyond me.

Works great for some things.

When I have a wine I like I take a picture of the bottle so I can find it again at the store. If I am picking stuff up from the store and my wife wants a specific product I can take a picture of it. I'll be moving shortly and I will probably take a picture of the back of my tv/entertainment unit so I know where everything should be plugged in.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

Works great for some things.

.

Like texting photos of my wang

[Daradon]

I'm surprised there's enough of these type of people that this is an issue.

Absolutely charge them. As heavily as you can. Make a new law for it. This is insane. If talking is distracting, how the heck can one take a picture?

Not to mention people who rubberneck are annoying to begin with and slow traffic down for everyone.

Lastly as people have mentioned, it's horribly indecent to take pictures of others misery.

Jeez, what the heck is wrong with people?

[stampsx2]

The fine should be $1000 the first time your caught rubbernecking. If your not going to stop and help then keep going. The last thing someone in an accident needs, is people staring.

[Erick Estrada]

I'm surprised the NO vote isn't higher given the large amount of rubber-neckers in this city.

[Swayze11]

My wife said there was an accident in Airdrie the other day and the police were standing beside the accident and taking pictures of peoples license plates that were doing exactly this. I assume they will get a ticket in the mail.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

I've never used the camera on my cell phone. Why people do is beyond me.

A lot of these newer phones take very good pictures and it's not like everyone is looking for perfection when they photograph something.