Stay off your phone, drivers!
Let’s be honest here: if you’re a driver, chances are that you’ve texted someone or done something on your phone while behind the wheel.
Well perhaps now’s the time to REALLY fight the urge to check your phone while driving because the police are deploying a clever new strategy to catch distracted drivers.
According to 9news.com.au, Victorian police are going undercover as windscreen washers and catching drivers who are on their phones while waiting at traffic lights.
Catching offending drivers when they least expect it. That’s pretty sneaky.
Confirming the operation to 9news, Victorian Police state that officers have conducted the operation in Forest Hill in order to catch distracted drivers.
“Part of the operation involved observations of drivers in stationary vehicles.”
The operation has been pretty successful with over 35 infringement notices being doled out to drivers texting behind the wheel.
Some might point out that the police are breaking the law with this undercover operation, specifically the law stating that it is illegal in Victoria to wash windscreens on the street and offenders will be slapped with fines in excess of $140.
However, the police clarified that they undercover cops aren’t actually washing any windscreens during the operation. It makes sense since they’re probably too busy on the lookout for distracted drivers anyway.
With the penalty for driving while distracted in Victoria sitting at a hefty $476 fine and four demerit points, not to mention the possibility of this undercover traffic operation spreading to other states, now’s perhaps the best time to remind everyone to not use their phones while driving!
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Image: Getty Images
Written by Alexandar Pan
