Florida Resident Drove Around with a Cellphone Jammer for Two Years Before Being Caught

Considering the cost of tracking these things, and the consequences that will ensue if this sort of vandalism is allowed to become widespread, I believe that penalty is quite reasonable.

 

First of all....
You will get caught.
If you're thinking about doing this?
Don't.

It's like.....building any other device that the government deems to be "destructive."
You might get away with it for a limited time, but if you build and use certain things with any regularity?
You WILL get caught and then...
You're done!

Try getting a job after checking the "yes, I'm a felon" block on the application.

I utterly despise people who are selfish enough to drink and drive, but there's at least a theoretical possibility that they're a better class of people than those who regularly text, or otherwise diddle with a phone while driving.
After all.....it's possible to be drunk enough to not know what you're doing when you get behind the wheel.
Distracted drivers?
They just don't give a rats.
I regularly daydream about building a device that will generate a feedback screech in a handset loud enough to puncture eardrums, or at least destroy the device because, let's face it!
Americans have a tough enough time driving while driving.
However (comma!) these fantasies are tempered by the fact that vigilantism rarely ends well, and I suspect that prisons suck a lot worse than submarines even if their tenants do have better living accommodations and get to see the sun more regularly.
So?
I let LEO do the law enforcement thing, and I concentrate on avoiding idiots who aren't concentrating on anything at all.

Any prosecutor with a room temperature IQ will peremptorily strike me as a perspective juror, but I do recognize that running around with cell phone jammers should be illegal.
I do also think that a $48,000 fine is typical government thuggery for a first offense however.
A $1 fine and a federal wrap sheet is usually enough to get the point across,
and bed-wetting anti gun people also get the satisfaction of knowing that the newly minted felon will have to get rid of his or her guns.

 

Remember, the $48k is the starting point for negotiations. It makes the prosecutors job a lot easier when the suspect is highly motivated to come up with a plea of guilty (of possibly a misdemeanor) vs. providing serious financing for the state.

(Note; The jammer works just as well on cell phones not in cars, so don't overlook that he was jamming everything within jamming range.)

 

Concur on both.
I totally agree that running around with an unlicensed Cellular Disruption device is 100-percent wrong.
In a fair and just world, he'll probably get a fine and a criminal record.
For a first time federal offense and presumably no priors??
Probably a four figure fine and a misdemeanor.

It's up to the lawyers.

Missiles don't usually carry self-destruct devices, unless they're test fired on an instrument range or on a DASO (Demonstration And Shake down Operation) shot. This is generally done to keep the rocket from flying somewhere that you don't want it to go, as could happen with failed satellite launches, or the SRB's on a shuttle.
Usually ballistic missiles are advertised to be fire-and-forget weapons.
"Accidental" launches really aren't much of a problem if you keep the muzzle door(s) shut.
To be sure, there's a bit of a clean-up challenge but the weapon isn't really going to go anywhere.
Electromagnetic monitoring around sensitive sites is usually done for TEMPEST.
This ensures that sensitive facilities are secure from leakage.
Tempest (codename) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
To be fair, Vandy has a lot of test launches (as does Kennedy) so I guess there might be more monitoring when you have a few gigabucks worth of "undisclosed military payload" sitting on the pad.

Generally speaking?
Not much of a problem when you're at patrol depth and speed.

The FCC and the military both monitor for unusual transmissions, but like 70AAR says, usually the former's efforts are complaint driven.

 

I've been told that this varies by region, and my region has a history of an active self-motivated FCC.

 

If cellular phone jammers are illegal, shouldn't audio jammers be as well? It is way too common to feel (forget about just hearing) high power audio jammers at work whenever stopping at some intersections. What really surprises me is when the beat is so loud, all music is replaced with the physical sound of rattling metal as the car is being shaken apart.

 

They are in some locales.

 

I have been really thinking about a cell phone jammer...
While I have thought about really wanting to have a high power one just to piss people off...When I see someon merging across 3 lanes of traffic with the phone glued to their ear...hit the button, end the call..

I'm thinking about something this size
3G Handheld Jammer :: Cell Phone Jammer :: Phonejammer.com :: Buy Here !
and install in my daughters car when she turns 16.

but the nice thing with cell phones nowadays there are apps that help you keep your phone from working under certain circumstances so I'd be able to ensure her phone doesn't work while she driving...so we'll see what comes around in a couple years...

the biggest issue with the guyin florida, is that his jammer also affected police, fire and EMS bands as well...

 

It also had far more than the 5 meter range of the item you linked.

 

5 meters would cover all but the largest restaurants.

 

Someone on the phone to the emergency services, driving to hospital as his passenger is suffering a fit?

How do you know what the call was about? What gives you the right? Sure it's probably some idiot talking to their mate but it might also be an emergency. Unless you have this inner sight that allows you to 'just know'?

 

Still - if you can afford the phone and the plan you can afford one of the 10$ kits to use it hands free while driving. Every gps enabled phone should have built-in hardware/software that prevents hands use if the phone is moving more than say 20mph. In Mass the law states your left hand must be on the wheel while driving - old law that goes back to when all vehicles were standards. Still many folks insist on using their left hand to hold the phone thus forgetting/choosing not to use their turn signals now and constantly creating near collisions as a result.

 

GC... I dont disagree with your reasoning...there could be any one of 100 valid reasons why someone would be on a phone while driving.

but, IMO my life is equally as important as any conversation they maybe having. Plus, if the person had an accident then they are of no use to the person they are trying save...

I've said it before. Driving has become a secondary task while actually in the car and operating the vehicle.

Newspaper reading, laptop/tablet resting on the steering while while screen open and active, makeup, reading books, cell phone use, three course meal...some of the stuff I've seen on my morning commute...

Now don't get me wrong, there are some people who drive quite well while talking on the phone.... they maintain their speed, they maintain their lane, they appear to be attentive to their main task, which is driving...the problem is that many folks are not like this.

JP I agree that it should be easy enough but what if you are a passenger and want to use your phone to look for a restaurant, or call police to report a drunk driver....

there is no real solution, except to have the police begin greater enforcement, and for drivers to take responsibility more seriously.

There do not need to be any new laws outlawing cell phone use while driving. Most if not all states have laws on the book for "inattentive driving, or failing to maintain control of ones vehicle"

 

Passengers can use hands free as well - won't hurt them a bit. In fact if the cell phone companies hadn't gotten so greedy we wouldn't have the problem with cell phone use that we have today. It's supposed to be a tool not an extension of your arm that's been surgically implanted. Cell phones were expensive at first with limited battery life and plans with around 100 minutes/month and charging more than $1 for every overage minute. You talked because you needed to and did so succinctly and efficiently else your bill became astronomical. Then someone decided to create these unlimited plans and now we no longer talk because we need to but because we can - and we haven't stopped talking since. We walk into open manhole covers, we walk against pedestrian walk signals, we walk off footbridges being repaired and we still keep talking. We have just about created a society plagued by what is known as 'verbal diarrhea' and there seems to be little cure in site. And when our phone battery runs out we just plug into the wall or the 12v port in our cars and keep talking. If cell phones mysteriously stopped working for a week you would probably see quite a few suicides as a result. Somehow we need to learn to break the addiction.

 

I like going on vacation out of the country...
I live down in a valley of sorts and I get ZERO cell service from my current provider... every now an gain a call will get through and the phone rings. but I don't answer as I know it will just drop. If its important the folks at work have my home number.