The Kentucky State Patrol announced this month that it would be starting a new campaign to enforce safer driving standards across the state’s highways. Sounds like that would be a good thing for everyone, right?
The problem is the program has a pretty broad interpretation, and if you’re driving down the road enjoying a sandwich while driving at the same time — everyone has done it, right? — you could be stopped by a trooper who could then use the stop as grounds for a search, if he or she feels there is cause.
As public information officer for the Kentucky State Police Jonathan Biven told Bowling Green TV affiliate WBKO, the operation, dubbed R.A.I.D, or Remove Aggressive, Impaired and Distracted Drivers from Kentucky Roadways, is meant “to stop distracted drivers. This includes eating and drinking. We are going to be out looking for those people.”
Is sipping on coffee while driving illegal? No, but is it a violation of the Fourth Amendment? Probably, if the police are in fact profiling drivers and using the new measures to find illegal immigrants or to search cars for anything illegal, like drugs.
The Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures, and requires any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause.
R.A.I.D. is due to be in effect for a full year. Troopers will be more visible, and the number of checkpoints will increase.
KSP director of operations Lt. Col. Jack Miniard made it all sound fairly tame in a press release, saying, “Many times, law enforcement will participate in a blanket campaign that may or may not work well in certain areas. … This program is not about writing tickets; it is about enforcing traffic laws and bringing awareness to dangerous driving behaviors that cause crashes.”
But let’s think of it this way: if a trooper is sitting on the side of I-75, a major U.S. interstate artery that cuts through the state, and sees two cars pass with both drivers visibly sipping a Coke, but one driver is white and the other driver is Hispanic, which driver do you think would be stopped?
And that’s where things can get a little dicey.
Aside from a being a potential violation of the Fourth Amendment, some may see this as a way to generate revenue for the state. The cost of traffic tickets at city, county and state levels have increased dramatically as governments find themselves underfunded.
According to the National Motorist Association, somewhere between 25 and 50 million traffic tickets are issued each year. Assuming an average ticket cost of $150, the total up front profit from tickets ranges from $3.75 to $7.5 billion, which makes ticket writing a big business.
That’s probably incentive enough for state, county and local governments wanting their police agencies to drum up money for empty coffers.