Yeah, coming soon to law enforcement agencies everywhere: You could be pulled over for more than just a lead foot now. A special gun is being developed and is close to production that can apparently tell when you're texting and even which occupant was the culprit!

I almost wanna call b/s on this story already but all of the sources that I've seen check out. So, when you fire off a text message, it' transmits on a different frequency than other activities on your phone do which is how they can peg you. But what if you use iMessage which aren't texts at all? And what if someone sends you a text message but you don't respond? Will you have to surrender your device in order to prove it?

 

Photo by Bruno Vincent/Getty Images
Photo by Bruno Vincent/Getty Images
loading...

I get the safety angle, but we all know that laws aren't passed for that reason alone and too often traffic infractions of any kind feel like invasive extortion more than innocent safeguards. Where will this stop if this comes into being as distracted driving encompasses more than just texting? How will they police eating while driving, operating the radio or something else inside the car or my biggest distraction, just conversing with a passenger, let alone getting lost in my own thoughts! Officer: "Yeah I got you on the thought gun: I'm afraid you can't be thinking about money troubles while driving. It's too unsafe. Here's your ticket for $200 to teach you a lesson."

That last example was silly, but seriously. If you follow this kind of pattern to conclusion, it ends with the life being sucked out of that thing that we all enjoy called freedom.

More From 96.1 The Eagle