Police are blackmailing motorists into installing cellphone monitoring devices (Updated)
image credit: CellControl
Since 2016, New York motorists are being forced asked to let the police spy on their cellphones for a minimum of 90 days.
In Nassau County, motorists are asked, wink, wink to pay hundreds of dollars to enter the 'Distracted Driver Education Program' (DDEP). The Feds, claim to offer motorists a choice, either dispute the texting while driving ticket in court, accept a 5 point moving violation or enter the DDEP.
Before a motorist can enter the DDEP they have to pay a distracted driving citation which can be anywhere from $50 and $400 and have to pay an installation fee of $125.00 for the in-car device.
According to an article in the Massapequa Patch, Nassua County police wrote 8,000 distracted driving tickets in 2015. To translate that into dollars, that's $4.2 million in revenue law enforcement collects from motorists every year.
Cities and towns across the country are looking for new ways to balance budgets and using traffic citations to balance budgets is nothing new. So it's reasonable to assume the DDEP will eventually go national. (A Google search for 'Distracted Driver Education Programs' returned over 2.2. million hits.)
Updated 7/25:
Washington state enacts new 'E-DUI' law for driving under the influence of phones
A new Washington State E-DUI law that takes effect next week, imposes stiff penalties against those who drive under the influence…of electronics. "The new distracted driving law, referred to as “E-DUI,” goes into effect Sunday in the Evergreen State. Drivers will no longer be able to usea cell phone or any electronic device while driving, even when stopped at a traffic light.""State troopers will give out warnings for the first few months before tickets get written. The first citation will cost drivers $136. A second citation within five years of the first one will increase to $236."Motorists forced to pay to let police spy on themMotorists who agree to enter the DDEP must sign a Plea Agreement, that allows police to spy on their text messages for a minimum of 90 days!
"A device called DriveID is installed in the motorist’s primary vehicle and an app is installed on the motorist’s phone. The app receives information from the device which causes the keyboard of the phone to deactivate and the screen to be blocked. The motorist is broken of the habit of reaching for the device. However, voice commands are not disabled, so the motorist can still use apps like “Hey Siri”, which don’t require the user to touch or even look at their device, to control their device legally while driving."
We all know texting and driving is dangerous but forcing motorists to have their cellphones spied on, is not the answer.
How do motorists enter the program?
"The motorist signs a plea agreement (page 9 of this packet is executed and is retained by the court, page 3 is the motorist’s copy)admitting to improper use of an electronic device, acknowledges the signing and understanding of the document before the court, pays $283 ($338 if issued on or after 1/2/2017) in fines and fees to the cashier immediately upon leaving the courtroom, and immediately purchases online and installs in the car the motorist uses most frequently, a device called “DriveID” (approximately $125) which mounts to the windshield like an EZ-PASS and works along with the Bluetooth in the car and an app called “DRIVEPROTECT”that the motorist must install on their phone and leave running at all times."
DriveID is made by CellControl a United Kingdom company that spies on motorists worldwide. CellControl also works with Verizon and insurance companies like Liberty Mutual, Allstate, Esurance, Arbella and Ohio Mutual to spy on motorists.
Nothing suspicious about that right? Insurance companies would never use DriveID data to raise our rates, right?
Motorists admit to being guilty with no right to appeal
Motorists who sign the DDEP admit to being guilty with no right to appeal.
I am admitting to improper use of an electronic device as described, either “Improper Use of a Cellphone“ or “Prohibited Use on an Electronic Device”and plead guilty to the charge, however, I understand that my plea will be delayed for approximately 120 days to allow me time to complete the Distracted Driver Education Program (DDEP) which is described in documents I acknowledge receiving, reading,understanding, and retaining. After completing the DDEP I will submit he survey which is included in the documents, and after the court confirms my participation in the program, my guilty plea will be entered in the court record as “parking too close to a hydrant”,a no point parking violation.
I give up my rights of self-incrimination, to a trial, to cross-examine witness(s) etc.
To recap, motorists are 'asked' to pay hundreds of dollars to join the DDEP, admit to being guilty and give up the right to an Appeal. Police who swore an oath to uphold the Constitution, have no fear of being cross-examined because motorists have given away their rights.
To be clear, the government isn't really 'asking motorists to give up their rights', This is blackmail pure and simple.
Merriam Webster defines blackmail as...
A: extortion or coercion by threats especially of public exposure or criminal prosecution B::the payment that is extorted.
This is exactly what the DDEP is all about.
DriveID spies on motorist's driving performance
An excerpt taken from CellControl's 'Solutions to Stop Texting and Driving' reveals how police can use DriveID to get detailed driving histories of everyone.
"In addition to customizing your distracted driving policy, you can also get detailed reports on driver performance, from braking and acceleration events to speeding and approved device usage. Easily watch as driving improves and inappropriate device usage behind the wheel diminishes."
You can't make this crap up, CellControl and DriveID were designed to spy on motorist's driving performance!
A word of caution, once police have access to a cell phone, you should assume there's a backdoor allowing them to spy on the cellphone in the future without a warrant.
Still doubt that the DDEP will go national? Last month CellControl and the NHTSA announced that April was National Distracted Driving Awareness month.
What's happened to American policing? Police don't care about our Bill of Rights anymore and have resorted to blackmailing motorists.