Photo: celebsiren.com
As a concerned parent and an equally concerned politician, Bill de Blasio, the current mayor of New York City, isn’t about to cut drivers guilty of texting and driving any kind of slack.
Speaking at a recent press conference on his plans to reduce pedestrian fatalities, de Blasio recalled a recent incident in which he instructed his police detail to pull over a driver who was texting at the wheel. He didn’t want the female driver to walk away feeling like this was something she could get away with.
De Blasio says he was going on the FDR Drive, on his way to a meeting, when he noticed the woman at the wheel, busily tapping on her phone screen, the New York Post reports. Sure, he concedes, the traffic was slow, but that doesn’t mean that what she was doing was any less dangerous.
“I’m happy to be citizen patrol here,” de Blasio says. “The traffic was slow so I’m sure they thought they could get away with it. They were not paying attention to the road and I said, ‘Pull them over!’”
“You know give her some on-the-spot education because I’m saying this as a parent, I don’t understand why people think they have a chance. They could kill someone,” de Blasio adds.
He wouldn’t offer any more details on the incident (and neither would his spokesperson), so there’s no way of telling whether the offending driver was ticketed or let off with just a verbal warning. Still, texting and driving in New York will usually land you a fine between $50 and $400, depending on whether this is your first offense of the kind or not.
So keep that in mind if you plan on driving around NYC and put your phones away. Also, you never know when the mayor might be driving by and he’s clearly not reluctant to have his security detail perform traffic stops.
De Blasio says he was going on the FDR Drive, on his way to a meeting, when he noticed the woman at the wheel, busily tapping on her phone screen, the New York Post reports. Sure, he concedes, the traffic was slow, but that doesn’t mean that what she was doing was any less dangerous.
“I’m happy to be citizen patrol here,” de Blasio says. “The traffic was slow so I’m sure they thought they could get away with it. They were not paying attention to the road and I said, ‘Pull them over!’”
“You know give her some on-the-spot education because I’m saying this as a parent, I don’t understand why people think they have a chance. They could kill someone,” de Blasio adds.
He wouldn’t offer any more details on the incident (and neither would his spokesperson), so there’s no way of telling whether the offending driver was ticketed or let off with just a verbal warning. Still, texting and driving in New York will usually land you a fine between $50 and $400, depending on whether this is your first offense of the kind or not.
So keep that in mind if you plan on driving around NYC and put your phones away. Also, you never know when the mayor might be driving by and he’s clearly not reluctant to have his security detail perform traffic stops.
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