For a couple of hours this morning, a few dozen police officers (some posing undercover as road workers) cracked down on distracted drivers around the Big Chicken, the intersection of Roswell Road and Cobb Parkway, and gave out between 100 and 150 citations.
That area includes the Roswell Road access point for the Northwest Corridor managed lanes, and the number of citations is an estimate that is expected to rise.
Marietta Police said the undertook the planned enforcement detail because in recent months they’ve seen an increase in the number of accidents caused by distracted drivers.
Officers from Marietta and Cobb Police and the Georgia State Patrol worked in 40 marked vehicles, and the “goal was to re-educate drivers about the importance of safe driving, specifically seat belt use” as well as the Georgia hands free law (the do’s and don’ts are here) that went into effect a year ago.
Here’s more from Officer Chuck McPhilamy, the Marietta PD’s public information officer, and sent out on social media this afternoon, including information on how the court process works if you get a citation:
1. Driving is a PRIVILEGE not a RIGHT. When we sign for our driver’s license we agree to abide by the rules and regulations of the road as established by our elected government officials.
2. The tickets for distracted driving, according to the law, can ALL be waived the first time if you appear in court and show evidence that you have a blue tooth device in your vehicle now, after that the first fine is $50 and (1) point, then it climbs in increments of $50 and one point for each additional violation.
3. The goal is to make the roads safe, these tickets are the government’s way of trying to get people to obey the law.
4. EVERYONE can simply pull over into a parking space and use their phone any way they like. The law only prohibits the use of an electronic device while also operating a vehicle.
5. If we had even more marked vehicles available, even more violators would have been issued citations – this is clearly a law being violated.
Regardless of your stance, know that we all went out this morning with the goal of making your ability to drive in Marietta as safe as possible.
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