Darkseid wrote: It may not have been Arkansas. Back when this crap first came into fashion and started to spread, I was visiting various blogs from around the country. It was on one of them. Don't know which state , city, county,or town it is, I thought it was Arkansas,but at least one somewhere put it into their version of the law. Since I can't remember, that's why I said check out each law's writing before you go getting a doll and protesting.
I think you are just spreading (perhaps not intentionally) FUD over this new law. I have read about Arkansas, California, Maine, New Jersey, and South Carolina discussing the laws over smoking in a car with a child. Arkansas, California, Louisiana, and Maine have passed this law, but not one of them has anything written in it that would make it a crime to smoke while driving with an empty car seat.
Just be careful when you are posting bold statements like that because people tend to believe the worst. I think the fact that they passed a law regarding smoking while driving is crossing the line of legitimate government interests, but they justify it by pointing to an underage child (and this Harvard Report from November 2006 seems to be one of their weapons). In the case of an empty car seat, I am unaware of the danger of secondhand smoke on furniture and fabric.
I think the blog you came across had a post by someone making a sarcastic remark about the law and how ridiculous they feel it is. Unless there is a reliable source that shows some state or district seriously considered adding empty car seat to their law, I would not keep believing it.
If you get pulled over because you are driving, smoking, and have a doll in a car seat, it is because the police believe you are traveling with a child. Your little joke on the police has now given them a reason to give you a ticket. Since your joke wasted their time, don't be surprise if they hit you with a different violation such as a seat belt ticket or a moving violation. They may also gain probable cause to search your car unless they put text into the law like they did in Maine to prevent that kind of abuse.
Case in point, I would not recommend doing this or tell people to do this to drive the cops nuts. If a cop pulls you over because they saw what looked like a child in a car seat, the fact that it turns out to be a doll doesn't invalidate the officer's stop and their ability to drive you nuts in return. |
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JoshNJ
Smoker
Joined: Apr 12, 2006
Posts: 153
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