Page 36 - AAA Magazine – AAA Ohio Auto Club – January 2019

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because for someone to admit it to a police officer for the crash report is fairly unheard of.”
What Conner sees people doing while driving “is absolutely amazing.” They’re caught watching TV, texting and watching pornography on their cellphones. The majority of distracted drivers are going through their Facebook accounts, according to Conner.
“It absolutely makes me mad,” he said. “It’s like everyone I catch on Facebook, I’m like, ‘You can’t wait to see your friend’s wedding photos until you get home? Really?’ Frankly I’m very short with the people, and I say, ‘Your life and my life are worth more than your friend’s wedding photos.’”
Wonder how Conner sees what he sees? According to the officer, when he has time to patrol the streets, he is looking for those driving with their head down. He’ll then walk up on the passenger side while the driver is stopped at a light. His body camera captures it all.
The infraction comes with a $192 citation. Those who choose to fight the ticket should know that Conner boasts of a near perfect conviction rate thanks to his body camera.
Conner is tough on distracted drivers, especially the ones he encounters who have children in the car.
“You would be surprised at how many parents I get with 13-, 14-, 15-year-old kids in the car and the parent’s on Facebook,” he said. “Your child is going to be driving in a couple of years and for you to tell them don’t touch your phone while they’ve seen you do it all these years
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“You know, enough’s enough. It’s an epidemic to me. You’re driving a 5,000-pound piece of machinery.
What’s so important that it can’t wait?”
is absolutely hypocritical and they’re not going to listen to a word you say.”
Conner has no illusions of single-handedly bringing an end to cellphone distractions.
“It’s got to be a change in society and their perception of how dangerous this has really gotten to be,” he said. “Society is going to have to band together and actually say, ‘You know, enough’s enough.’ It’s an epidemic to me. You’re driving a 5,000-pound piece of machinery. What’s so important that it can’t wait?”
Conner sits on the Ohio Department of Transportation’s distracted driving task force, which he said hopes to propose a statewide hands-free driving law. They also would like to see points assigned to violators.
“Once points are assigned to it, insurance companies are going to start raising these people’s rates,” said Conner.
There’s an army of angry Americans fed up with distracted drivers who believe that that day can’t come soon enough.
William J. Purpura is editor of AAA Magazine.
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