“What we’ve done here is we’re able to put officers in the roads so we’re able to get close enough almost inside their cars so we can look down and see exactly what they’re doing on their phones,” he said.
Marietta police insisted that even drivers stopped at a traffic light, as many of the targets of the undercover sting on Wednesday were, are subject to the state’s laws. By not identifying themselves as officers, Serkedakis said that police can get a better idea of who is breaking state law.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re stopped at a light, if you’re on a public thoroughfare and facing the phone we’re going to have a conversation with you,” he said.
Police said many drivers pulled over for texting as they waited for the traffic light said they did not know details of Georgia’s texting-while-driving law, established in 2010.
Tickets for the offense are $150 and one point on a driver’s license, according to WSB-TV.
Police said the amount of distracted driving that occurs — and the at times dire ramifications of such impairment — justified their undercover tactics.