Just saw a fire chief(?) driving an SUV southbound on West Ox road at @ 10:30 p.m., VA license plate # 44-022L. We were side by side at the light in front of FFX town center, and he was looking down and typing on that large computer screen they have mounted on the dash. The light turns green, I proceed southbound, and the chief is lagging out of the light...slowly proceeding. I continue in the right turn only lane to turn on Monument Drive, and slow down to check, because I just now the chief is driving slow because he's typing on that damn computer while he's driving. Sure enough, when he passed me by, he was looking down at that lit screen rather than looking at the road.

Why does the Fire CHief believe it's safe to push buttons on that damn screen while he's driving down the road?!

Get a blog.

Blogger is free.

first is was most likely not THE fire chief......fairfax county fire/rescue is a HUGE agency (in the area of 1500 firefighters)....so it was some deputy or other supervisor....

second those CADS are in use in pretty much every county public safety vehicle.....the computer being used while the vehicle moving at a red light then slowly proceeding is not a safety issue....while it may have slowed down and pissed off the driver behind him the particular instance you cite is not a safety violation...

3rd did you know that virgina has an exception for law enforcement (and it is inferred public safety staff police/fire/ems) for operating electronics while driving.......

so why dont you STFU, get a life, and worry about your family/ personal stuff and consider yourself very fortunate that you live in a county where you are provided some of the best public safety services found in the US.

eric6908976 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> first is was most likely not THE fire
> chief......fairfax county fire/rescue is a HUGE
> agency (in the area of 1500 firefighters)....so it
> was some deputy or other supervisor....
>
> second those CADS are in use in pretty much every
> county public safety vehicle.....the computer
> being used while the vehicle moving at a red light
> then slowly proceeding is not a safety
> issue....while it may have slowed down and pissed
> off the driver behind him the particular instance
> you cite is not a safety violation...
>
> 3rd did you know that virgina has an exception for
> law enforcement (and it is inferred public safety
> staff police/fire/ems) for operating electronics
> while driving.......
>
> so why dont you STFU, get a life, and worry about
> your family/ personal stuff and consider yourself
> very fortunate that you live in a county where you
> are provided some of the best public safety
> services found in the US.


Pound sand asshole. I AM worried about my family dick wad...cuz this fucker is driving down the road with what you claim is an exception? Fuck you you contrarian cocksucker...just looking for a fight aintcha tough guy. I hope he hits your wife's car while he's looking down

He was going 35-40mph headed to the speed limit there of 45 mph while looking down ya dork...he pased me 200 yards after the red light. I don't care WHAT you say...he's a fucking menace. Period.

no you say he is a menace...i wonder...

what are you driving qualifications? have you ever been to drivers training class? do you have years of exp driving in emergency situations? have you ever had to drive in emergency response mode? have you ever driven a 40 ft long vehicle?

are you perhaps a law enforcement officer? do you have training in traffic safety? criminal or traffic law enforcement?

no??

yea thats what i thought....if you have an issue call your county board of supervisor rep.....the situation you laid out is not a violation of law......and while there is possibly a violation of county policy i seriously doubt it....

so like i said worry about your personal stuff and let the public safety professionals do their job....

Relax, the action of "texting" in an emergency vehicle is lawful.

Read on:

#####
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 46.2-1078.1 as follows:

§ 46.2-1078.1. Use of handheld personal communications devices in certain motor vehicles; exceptions; penalty.

A. It shall be unlawful for any person to operate a moving motor vehicle on the highways in the Commonwealth while using any handheld personal communications device to:

1. Manually enter multiple letters or text in the device as a means of communicating with another person; or

2. Read any email or text message transmitted to the device or stored within the device, provided that this prohibition shall not apply to any name or number stored in the device nor to any caller identification information.

B. The provisions of this section shall not apply to:

1. The operator of any emergency vehicle;

2. An operator who is lawfully parked or stopped;

3. The use of factory-installed or aftermarket global positioning systems (GPS) or wireless communications devices used to transmit or receive data as part of a digital dispatch system; or

4. Any person using a handheld personal communications device to report an emergency.

C. No citation for a violation of this section shall be issued unless the officer issuing such citation has cause to stop or arrest the driver of such motor vehicle for the violation of some other provision of this Code or local ordinance relating to the operation, ownership, or maintenance of a motor vehicle or any criminal statute.

D. A violation of any provision of this section shall constitute a traffic infraction punishable, for a first offense, by a fine of $20 and, for a second or subsequent offense, by a fine of $50.

For the purposes of this section, "emergency vehicle" means:

1. Any law-enforcement vehicle operated by or under the direction of a federal, state, or local law-enforcement officer while engaged in the performance of official duties;

2. Any regional detention center vehicle operated by or under the direction of a correctional officer responding to an emergency call or operating in an emergency situation;

3. Any vehicle used to fight fire, including publicly owned state forest warden vehicles, when traveling in response to a fire alarm or emergency call;

4. Any ambulance, rescue, or life-saving vehicle designed or used for the principal purpose of supplying resuscitation or emergency relief where human life is endangered;

5. Any Department of Emergency Management vehicle or Office of Emergency Medical Services vehicle, when responding to an emergency call or operating in an emergency situation;

6. Any Department of Corrections vehicle designated by the Director of the Department of Corrections, when (i) responding to an emergency call at a correctional facility, (ii) participating in a drug-related investigation, (iii) pursuing escapees from a correctional facility, or (iv) responding to a request for assistance from a law-enforcement officer; and

7. Any vehicle authorized to be equipped with alternating, blinking, or flashing red or red and white secondary warning lights pursuant to § 46.2-1029.2.

I get a little tired of cops and FFs thinking they are so special the rules don't apply to them. I see cops speeding up and down Rolling Road every morning. They are not responding to an emergency -- they are rushing to get to the WS station or to get to the 7-11 at Rolling and OKM to hang out before their shift is over. Yet those same cops will be out there giving normal folks a ticket for driving the same speed the cop was driving that morning. Hypocrites.

I don't care if they have taken special driving classes -- just because I have, and just because I race a car on a track on the weekends and I have a lot more skill than most drivers doesn't mean that I am granted special privileges. I don't care if they save lives -- so I do in my job, but BFD -- when I'm driving I'm just like everyone else.

Bottom line -- texting while driving is dangerous enough that the general population can't do it, so the same principle should apply to LE and emergency personnel. Quit thinking you're so damn special.

COPS DONUTS FREE CARWASH


Ok, now that's out of the way. I'd much rather have the Battalion Chief messing on his cad than 16 year old Suzy Homecoming queen texting while barreling down the road in her behemoth gas guzzler that mommy and daddy bought her.

st139545 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> He was going 35-40mph headed to the speed limit
> there of 45 mph while looking down ya dork...he
> pased me 200 yards after the red light. I don't
> care WHAT you say...he's a fucking menace. Period.


Unless of course he was directing operations via his cad to trucks responding to a fire at your home and then it would be ok, like said before, worry about something that matters douche

Those guys think they are special.

I had a Battalion Chief in his red Suburban(?) fly by my school bus the other day as I was dropping off students. He wasn't on a call because he stopped at a red light just down the road and waited until it turned green to go.

Even if he was on call, he is required to stop for a school bus with red lights flashing. (we then suspend the loading/unloading and turn the lights out to let them pass, but emergency vehicles are still supposed to stop until we do)

I'm not questioning whether it's legal...IT'S STUPID.

not_special....

actually per the virginia code cited above this particular rule of "texting" and driving doesnt apply to them.......

the virginia legislator made a specific code exemption for emergency vehicles because of the use of computers in the vehicles...this is because the computers play a critical role in directing emergency response throughout the state.

regarding the cops speeding......does it in any way effect you? or is it that you have some type of jelousy/dislike for law enforcement?

hmm...you saying your are a 'weekend racer' completely explains your attitude toward law enforcement.....i dont know why you think that going out to BSR in west virginia or some other raceway in virginia to drive fast at your own expense somehow makes you a good driver....from what i have seen the vast majority of the people that do that stuff are there to show off and have a thrill not learn to be good drivers......

i say that law enforcement and fire officials are better drivers because of multiple driving classes (both at high and low speed) and years of experience navigating the roads of fairfax county in both emergency response and normal driving......

so like i said before STFU and let the county public safety professionals do their job.....unless if they personally wrong you (ie violate your civil rights) keep your BS opinions to yourself and worry about your family/personal/financial or whatever other problems you have.....

+1.

The fire academy is right near there, if you're so pissed off, then go swing by and talk to the chief about it yourself. I'm sure he'd be eager to explain it to you. No kidding.

cops and firefighters or anyone else operating an emergency vehicle is exempt from the texting while driving law and many other laws. Apparently the Virginia general assembly thinks they are special. Go complain to them or move out of Virginia if you dont like it. MAYBE.. just MAYBE... those computers are an essential part of their job to save your life...

eric67987 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> not_special....
>
> actually per the virginia code cited above this
> particular rule of "texting" and driving doesnt
> apply to them.......

I didn't say that the law did or did not apply to them. I said that the same law that applies to the average citizen should apply to them. Can you understand that?


> the virginia legislator made a specific code
> exemption for emergency vehicles because of the
> use of computers in the vehicles

Yeah, I figured that out several posts ago. I'm saying that the law is wrong. That's my point. Get it?


>...this is because
> the computers play a critical role in directing
> emergency response throughout the state.


If the computer is so damn important, then they should pull over to a parking lot and type their messages, or turn on their siren and make it a bona fide emergency call.


> regarding the cops speeding......does it in any
> way effect you? or is it that you have some type
> of jelousy/dislike for law enforcement?

Neither. I don't like hypocrites, people who think they are better than other people, and people who don't think the rules apply to them.

I know cops, and I've heard them brag about how fast they go and get away with it, how much they drink and drive and get away with it, how their kids have been caught with drugs and got off because daddy was a cop, and all the other laws they break and get away with.

BTW, quit trying to figure out whether I like or dislike cops or am jealous or not. Stick to the arguments.


> hmm...you saying your are a 'weekend racer'
> completely explains your attitude toward law
> enforcement.....

Please enlighten me -- how does it explain anything? For the record, I personally don't race (I was using that as an example), so I don't have the attitude you think you do. Instead of trying your lame psychoanalysis trying to figure out my attitude towards cops, why don't you contribute some logic in this conversation?


>i dont know why you think that
> going out to BSR in west virginia or some other
> raceway in virginia to drive fast at your own
> expense somehow makes you a good driver....


Uhh, pretty basic concept here, isn't it? Taking high-speed driving classes. Spending a lot of time going fast, alone and in crowded race situations. Showing a dedication to the art and science of driving (far more than the occasional refresher course that a cop takes). Practicing, and getting experience in stressful driving situations. Don't you think all those things would make a person a better driver.


>from
> what i have seen the vast majority of the people
> that do that stuff are there to show off and have
> a thrill not learn to be good drivers......

From what you've seen? The "vast majority"? Wow, that's a helluva lame way to make a point.

Just like most cops, you don't know squat about what you're talking about, but you'll NEVER admit it.



> i say that law enforcement and fire officials are
> better drivers because of multiple driving classes
> (both at high and low speed) and years of
> experience navigating the roads of fairfax county
> in both emergency response and normal
> driving......

Oh please. I tried to tell you that there are plenty of drivers just as good as them, and you get back on your cops-are-god-saving-the-world soapbox.

Sorry bubba, cops and emergency workers are NOT special. Unless they are responding to an emergency, they are driving a vehicle just like anyone else.


> so like i said before STFU

You sound like a typical cop -- if you don't like what you hear you resort to bullying. Sorry, Bo, but your badge ain't worth a thing on this message board.

> and let the county
> public safety professionals do their
> job

Then they should pull over and do their job! What's so hard to understand about that?

Firefighters are like ninjas with trucks. They can do all sorts of things that ordinary people can't because they are so talented. Texting while driving is something they teach you at the fire academy. Since the law exempts them, that makes it safe. All the pro-authority dicksucks here say so. People with unregistered usernames who curse and flame a lot online have great respect for the law.

He was probably posting on Fairfax Underground on his computer while driving. Maybe he wanted to find out where the nearest glory hole was?

It's the law, write a letter to Governor-elect McDonell. As the previous AG I'm sure he'll know what to do.

Yes, go ahead and bitch, moan, and argue. You contrarians are just arguing to support their distracted driving because you want to argue. If I'd originally posted I thought it was agreat idea, you'd be arguing against. You just like to argue. You troll the posts looking to flame. Wow. I feel sorry for your poor wife and kids.

When I was a child in the mid 70s, we weren't required to wear seatbelts in the backseat of the car. Guess what? It was stupid. In the late 2000s they drive distracted with their computer monitors. Guess what? It's stupid.

Go ahead and argue some more feeble-boy. You HAVE to. You can't help it. As a matter of fact, I baited you on this post just to watch you argue a stupid point. And of sourse, you took the bait hook line and sinker. You're like a puppet on a string. DANCE PUPPET DANCE! :-)

Yep, I own you. Ummm...yeah...I think I'm ready for more...dance some more feeble-boy!

Um, arent you just continuing the argument by....wait for it...arguing with whoever it is that you are pissed at? I somewhat understand your initial point but now your message is lost cause you just acted like a 12 year old with the taunting. You were a child in the mid 70's? Making you a full grown adult? Way to act like it...

What's a "sourse?"

the CADs are used to communicate with each other and to update call information as the call takers get more info. The Chief was probably responding to a message he received. We just got new CADs and some are having more difficulty when using them since they are totally different then the old ones that were used for years. He could also have been updating the response area where he was because we are required to do so.

I am not saying that I am special in any way, but when I have your mother, father, son, daughter in my unit; I drive as safe as possible and when in a hurry to the Hospital, I hope that people get out of my way so that I can get there safe and fast, getting the Patient to care ASAP. You will not believe the amount of people that do not pull over, see lights and slam on their brakes, other drivers texting and not paying attention to the emergency vehicles, etc, etc. etc!

So if a Chief is driving slow, looking at his computer, I really dont see a safety issue. I could see your point if he was swirving around the road, driving high speeds, etc; but your arguement is that he was driving too slow for you while looking down, THEN you say that he was going faster, so which is it?

Do you look down to change the radio station? put in a cd? look off the road to see what someone else is doing?

Firefighter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am not saying that I am special in any way, but
> when I have your mother, father, son, daughter in
> my unit; I drive as safe as possible and when in a
> hurry to the Hospital, I hope that people get out
> of my way so that I can get there safe and fast,
> getting the Patient to care ASAP. You will not
> believe the amount of people that do not pull
> over, see lights and slam on their brakes, other
> drivers texting and not paying attention to the
> emergency vehicles, etc, etc. etc!

+1. If the OP is really concerned about public safety, he should launch an awareness campaign to remind people how to react to emergency vehicle situations. Everyone just kind of stops where they are, thinking that the ambulance or fire truck will go around them. It's terrible on Glebe Road, especially.

--------------------------------------------------------------
13 4826 0948 82695 25847. Yes.

Yeah - kind of like the idiots that drive in the left lane on the highway and the State Police comes up behind them with lights on and siren... and they still don't get out of the way. And we are not talking 80+ year old folks. Seems some folks can't pay attention to driving even when they don't have texting to distract them.

If you can’t model the past, where you know the answer pretty well, how can you model the future? - William Happer Cyrus Fogg Brackett Professor of Physics Princeton University

I'm driving on the beltway at 80 mph in rain right now.

Wuddle Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm driving on the beltway at 80 mph in rain right
> now.

Pussy. Post again when you've hit 90 mph.

--------------------------------------------------------------
13 4826 0948 82695 25847. Yes.

st139545 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Why does the Fire CHief believe it's safe to push
> buttons on that damn screen while he's driving
> down the road?!

You should be concentrating on your own driving rather than looking inside other vehicles to see what others are doing.

not_special Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> If the computer is so damn important, then they
> should pull over to a parking lot and type their
> messages, or turn on their siren and make it a
> bona fide emergency call.

You'd be the first person to sue fairfax because they took too long getting to your wife while she was having a heart attack.

It's unsafe. It's stupid. Period.

...I just thought I would quote my own post, in an effort to bring factual information back into this thread.

It is ok for them to "text" as defined by the VA Code.

RTFM.

#################

ffxn8v Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Relax, the action of "texting" in an emergency
> vehicle is lawful.
>
> Read on:
>
> #####
> Be it enacted by the General Assembly of
> Virginia:
>
> 1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding
> a section numbered 46.2-1078.1 as follows:
>
> § 46.2-1078.1. Use of handheld personal
> communications devices in certain motor vehicles;
> exceptions; penalty.
>
> A. It shall be unlawful for any person to operate
> a moving motor vehicle on the highways in the
> Commonwealth while using any handheld personal
> communications device to:
>
> 1. Manually enter multiple letters or text in the
> device as a means of communicating with another
> person; or
>
> 2. Read any email or text message transmitted to
> the device or stored within the device, provided
> that this prohibition shall not apply to any name
> or number stored in the device nor to any caller
> identification information.
>
> B. The provisions of this section shall not apply
> to:
>
> 1. The operator of any emergency vehicle;
>
> 2. An operator who is lawfully parked or stopped;
>
> 3. The use of factory-installed or aftermarket
> global positioning systems (GPS) or wireless
> communications devices used to transmit or receive
> data as part of a digital dispatch system; or
>
> 4. Any person using a handheld personal
> communications device to report an emergency.
>
> C. No citation for a violation of this section
> shall be issued unless the officer issuing such
> citation has cause to stop or arrest the driver of
> such motor vehicle for the violation of some other
> provision of this Code or local ordinance relating
> to the operation, ownership, or maintenance of a
> motor vehicle or any criminal statute.
>
> D. A violation of any provision of this section
> shall constitute a traffic infraction punishable,
> for a first offense, by a fine of $20 and, for a
> second or subsequent offense, by a fine of $50.
>
> For the purposes of this section, "emergency
> vehicle" means:
>
> 1. Any law-enforcement vehicle operated by or
> under the direction of a federal, state, or local
> law-enforcement officer while engaged in the
> performance of official duties;
>
> 2. Any regional detention center vehicle operated
> by or under the direction of a correctional
> officer responding to an emergency call or
> operating in an emergency situation;
>
> 3. Any vehicle used to fight fire, including
> publicly owned state forest warden vehicles, when
> traveling in response to a fire alarm or emergency
> call;
>
> 4. Any ambulance, rescue, or life-saving vehicle
> designed or used for the principal purpose of
> supplying resuscitation or emergency relief where
> human life is endangered;
>
> 5. Any Department of Emergency Management vehicle
> or Office of Emergency Medical Services vehicle,
> when responding to an emergency call or operating
> in an emergency situation;
>
> 6. Any Department of Corrections vehicle
> designated by the Director of the Department of
> Corrections, when (i) responding to an emergency
> call at a correctional facility, (ii)
> participating in a drug-related investigation,
> (iii) pursuing escapees from a correctional
> facility, or (iv) responding to a request for
> assistance from a law-enforcement officer; and
>
> 7. Any vehicle authorized to be equipped with
> alternating, blinking, or flashing red or red and
> white secondary warning lights pursuant to §
> 46.2-1029.2.

Fire Chiefs are nice. They work at resteraunts. This means grill. They cook food. Food is nice. Fire Chiefs have nice recipes. This means instructions. They wear white big hat.

I just thought I'd repost to bring some focus and clarity back into this thread: Looking down at the monitor while driving 40 mph on West Ox is still stupid. Period. 10 years from now it'll be illegal. You know it, I know it, freaking Santa Claus knows it. Dance puppet ....dance....

Maybe we can train a bunch of the those Taco Bell type dogs to ride along and do the typing on the keyboards.

st139545 originally spewed forth the following:
-------------------------------------------------------
> We were side by side at the light in
> front of FFX town center, and he was looking down
> and typing on that large computer screen they have
> mounted on the dash. The light turns green, I
> proceed southbound, and the chief is lagging out
> of the light...slowly proceeding.


st139545 now regurgitates:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Looking down at the monitor while driving 40 mph on West Ox



Make up your mind son, was he stopped and slowly proceeding or going 40 mph?


Not that is matters much, since it is totally legal.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/2009 07:33PM by Dane Bramage.

st139545 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I just thought I'd repost to bring some focus and
> clarity back into this thread: Looking down at the
> monitor while driving 40 mph on West Ox is still
> stupid. Period. 10 years from now it'll be
> illegal. You know it, I know it, freaking Santa
> Claus knows it. Dance puppet ....dance....

There's your problem, you still believe in Santa Claus.



Fucktard.

Remember kids, if it's legal, it must be perfectly safe.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/2009 08:43PM by tomahawk.

st139545 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I just thought I'd repost to bring some focus and
> clarity back into this thread: Looking down at the
> monitor while driving 40 mph on West Ox is still
> stupid. Period. 10 years from now it'll be
> illegal. You know it, I know it, freaking Santa
> Claus knows it. Dance puppet ....dance....


Youre really a douche, get a bubble to live in ,believe me, alot more danger lurks out there other than a fire chief temporarily looking away from the road.

Just in case you couldn't tell from my posts, I'm a huge fag who loves to wash the trucks in my FFX Fire Fighters Calendar Speedo. When I have extra time I like to buff the fire house poles or swing by the local donut shop to swing from the FFX Police's grundle

eric67987

Here's my question, how can you be looking at the road when you were self-admittedly, so intently looking at what the "chief" was doing numbnutts? Oh and I bet you are ten times the "menace" on the roads compared to this brave public hero. You are the fuckwad that needs the reality check. Dork.

M.Y.O.F.B.

HATE2HATE Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Here's my question, how can you be looking at the
> road when you were self-admittedly, so intently
> looking at what the "chief" was doing numbnutts?
> Oh and I bet you are ten times the "menace" on the
> roads compared to this brave public hero. You are
> the fuckwad that needs the reality check. Dork.
>
> M.Y.O.F.B.

Great job!