Minnesota Man Cited for Reading James Patterson While Driving

23.01.2016 Nate Hoffelder 3 Comments

Many smartphones and tablets can read ebooks aloud, but that’s not good enough for one Minnesota man.

Fox9 reports that a man was pulled over in Eagan, Minnesota this week for swerving and driving 15 miles below the speed limit. According to the dashcam footage, after an officer pulled him over and asked him what was going on, the man said that he was reading a James Patterson book on his tablet.

The man was given a ticket for reckless driving, which I think was unfair. Surely reading James Patterson was punishment enough.

“The nicest guy, obviously not the smartest thing to do while driving. Very dangerous. But he kind of got it, knew he made a mistake and the officer went back and ended up giving him a citation,” Officer Aaron Machtemes, spokesperson for Eagan Police, told Fox9 News.

Distracted driving is one of the leading causes of car accidents, Machtemes said. He explained that there are a lot of accidents caused by people texting or doing other things on their iPhone – “and they look down for two seconds, that’s when the person ahead of them hits the brakes and there’s an accident.”

He’s right, and many safety experts now recommend that you avoid using even hands-free accessories because it can still divert one’s attention away from driving.

WWMT.com, Fox9

image by frankieleon