Driver who photographed police drone crawling on her car is ticketed for distracted driving – Jalopnik

In general, you should not use your phone while driving. It’s dangerous and bad, and the US in particular would be much better off if people stopped texting while driving. Unfortunately for those responsible for enforcing anti-distracted driving laws, that’s a lot easier said than done. But now, CBC News reports A Canadian police department is facing a backlash after using drones to find distracted drivers, successfully distracting them and then trying to fine a woman $615 for photographing the drone so she could report the operator’s creepy behavior to authorities.

According to CBC News, Laurie Esseltine was stopped at a traffic light in Kingston, Ontario, when she saw a drone monitoring her vehicle. That understandably scared her, especially since she claimed she couldn’t see anyone nearby operating the drone, so she did the perfectly logical thing and took two photos and then waited for the light to turn green. “My first thought was to take a picture of this and report it,” she told CBC News. “It was scary… and then I thought, ‘What are they doing? You can’t do that.’ That was my second reaction.”

But before Esseltine could report the drone harassment, an officer stopped her and attempted to issue a $615 fine for using her phone while driving, along with “three demerit points and the possibility of a driver’s license suspension for three days.” Had she technically used her phone in a car she was driving? Sure, but would she have touched her phone if the police hadn’t sneaked up on her at a traffic light with a drone? I suspect probably not.

Fortunately, it appears the courts are not going along with Kingston Police using drones to create more distracted drivers, having dropped Esseltine’s charges last Monday. She is also at least the second director to have charges dropped after public opposition among the twenty named directors. However, when CBC News contacted municipal officer Rikki Voskamp for a statement, she declined to comment and did not respond to a follow-up request.

According to Kingston police, the operation that captured Esseltine was the first time they have used drones for distracted driving, and they have no plans to ever try it again. At least reportedly. Of course, it also doesn’t hurt that the Canadian Constitution Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on preserving constitutional rights, got involved and chose to represent another driver cited for photographing the police drone.

Josh Dehaas, the CCF’s litigation director, called the operation a “violation of the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures under Section Eight of the Charter” and also succeeded in getting the driver’s charges dropped. However, as with Esseltine’s case, prosecutors remained silent about why they dropped the charges. “They must have decided that it was not in the public interest to pursue the matter, and we think it is very likely that this is because they understood that this was a Charter violation,” Dehaas told CBC News.