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Saarland State Police via AP
When German police pulled over a driver on the autobahn on Monday, they discovered his vehicle was wired up like a mobile office.
MAINZ, Germany -- Ever worry about getting caught by police using your cellphone while driving?
That was not enough of a risk for one German driver, who had an entire office installed in his FORD Mondeo station wagon.
Undercover highway police in southern Germany on Monday pulled over a 34-year-old IT specialist after he conducted an illegal passing maneuver and was going 80 miles per hour in a reduced 62-mile-per-hour zone on Germany's infamous super highway, the autobahn.
Read more World news stories on NBCNews.com
"The officers were quite surprised when they found a laptop, a printer and even a medium-size voltage transformer attached to a wood rack that was set up next to the center console," police spokesman Stephan Lassotta told NBC News.
In addition, the German highway patrol found two cellphones and a navigation system installed in the windshield of the driver's car.
"We could not prove that the driver had been using the equipment while driving, so he was not fined for that violation," Lassotta added.
Crazy gas prices driving German consumers mad
But the man, who was not identified by name, was asked to store the technical equipment in his trunk immediately, before being allowed to continue his journey. German law states that "unsecured items" in vehicles are dangerous and therefore not permitted.
The man now faces a fine of more than $170 for speeding and passing traffic in a right-hand lane, in accordance with German law.
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Leave a Comment:
For years the Germany auto makers were reluctant to install cup holders in the vehicles with the thought of one should be driving not sipping and driving needed your full attention. Not so much with this techno wizard. Really the only way the German autobahn system works is with drivers paying attention, not multitasking.
Here in the USA, I've seen beauty salons and continental breakfast service in the front seat of cars while being driven.
The picture reminds me of the passenger seat of a police car. They apparently do not need to pay full attention while driving. I was rear ended by one.
A German driving a Ford? That's new.
Just about every third car you see in Germany is a Ford. They aren't the Fords you see here in the States.
That's nothing. I worked for a mobile medical X-ray company. I would drive out to remote sites with mobile x-ray equipment in the van to x-ray patients. After the x-rays of a patient were taken, the mobile equipment was stored back in the van. Then, the digital medical x-rays were processed right in the van with a digital processing machine. Next, these digital x-rays were sent wirelessly (from the van) to a Radiologist in another state for viewing. Sometimes, a reading with the results (delivered on-line) could be achieved in less than an hour. The quality of X-ray was not as good as in a hospital, of course, but the results were often faster and cheaper.
Looks like the inside of a typical 21st Century Cop car to me....... just a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
Driving on the Autobahn, electrical equipment, scattered bottles of water...not a good combination for a safe trip. This guy has just about every hazard he could have in his vehicle. I would be shocked if he actually drove like that instead of parked somewhere and worked. He would never have been able to set that up in the states because his car would have been broken into, especially with 2 laptops sitting in broad daylight.
I dunno, in the US if someone saw all of that equipment, I think we'd assume it was an undercover cop car
Or a burglar making off with the loot...
Not really. The equipment in cop cars is bolted down and does not obstruct vision. That guy's car is a mobile snowglobe waiting for an 80mph shake.
Now that's what I call multi tasking.
he probably rarely leaves the damn car.
OK, some of that seems a bit excessive and I hope he didn't plan on trying to use it while driving. (Yeah I know. Slim chance he's not.) But they make it sound like the GPS was illegal too. You can't have a GPS on the autobahn?
From the way I read it, you can't have the GPS attached to the windshield. I have mixed feelings on that matter, a pro is that you don't have to move your eyes away from the area you need to see to drive, the con is that you are reducing visibility.
Yes , you can have a GPS attached to the windshield while driving on the Autobahn. No legal problem. But you cannot use a mobile phone in your hands...ca. 90USD and points. But you can use a handsfree mobile phone.
Where was the coffee maker?
i assume the short-skirted secretary is in back (room)?
He probably has a porta-potty in there somewhere !
His porta-potty is on the passenger-side floorboard...
He probably wears Depends underwear to avoid stops and to handle the occasional Ferrari smoking past at 150mph. At least he is working unlike some of the other Euro countries always on "holiday".....
LOL maybe he sits on a potty!
That's a little over the top I would say. And he only got a speeding ticket. Good Lord buddy.
The reason he was pulled over was because he was passing on the right side, they would most likely have ignored the speed otherwise.
Not likely, speed limits are actually quite well enforced in Germany. If he was going 130km/h in a 100km/h zone, then a $170 fine is actually on the low side. You can get get "blitzt" (photograph taken) if you exceed 5-8km/h over the limit. Only way that he got away with such a low fine is when the police car only caught him on their dashboard camera and not on a build-in radar (in the front grill of the car).
And passing on the right on the freeway in Germany is usually a surefire way to loose you drivers license for +3 month...
The cops should talk--they have been driving around with mobile offices for decades now!!!!!
The difference between this guy and police officers, is that officers stop and will run license or registration checks while they are behind a vehicle or else call in over their radio, the license plate information they see, for a dispatcher to do a check. They are not putting in information on their computers while driving. I should know, because that is what I did while patrolling. In addition I went through special defensive driver training which the pubic isn't given.Officcrs know when to use what they have and are held strictly accountable for how that equipment is used.
In my city, the cops (force of 200) are routinely entering data on their computers while driving. I rode with them for a shift and watched all kinds of things going on while we drove around. The typing wasn't the most egregious behavior. I had a lot of fun that day, actually.......
Your claim is difficult to grasp for a major reason. The position of computers in patrol vehicles and how they are mounted in respect to steering wheels. As they take up a good portion of the passenger's side of the front seat leg room dash area. Officers need to reach over, rotate, lock in the screens and keyboards to order use them effectively. To actually drive and use them is not possible. That is a design safety feature. So for your statement to be accurate, they must have found a unique way to install their computers to by pass that safety feature, besides using the front mounted passenger position everybody else uses which is standard. And there are State and Federal Safety Regulations which must be followed. Violating those leaves them open to severe penalties and fines.
The real story is that he was driving a FORD, not a VW, Audi, or Mercedes.
USA, USA, USA!!
This guy is on the top of the list for another USA car, the Google Car.
You do know that Ford has built vehicles in Europe for decades don't you? Ford Taunus (yes no typo there) in Germany were popular in the 60's, or Cortina's in England. And btw you do also realize that the van that is becoming so popular here, the Transit, originated from Ford Europe? Ford is a multinational company.
Yeah, for better or worse there are a lot of Ford, Chevy, and others they won't let be imported over here. One "American" car gets very high mileage, but they won't let it into the country.
The Ford Mondeo is a very popular mid sized car in Europe. They just started selling them here in the states as the Ford Fusion. There are some really good Euro Fords that never made it to the states. I would love an old Sierra Cosworth.
As others already stated, Ford in Europe hasn't much in common with Ford in the USA, beside the name and the fact that they are part of the larger Ford cooperation.
The models designed and build in Germany are completely different from those designed and build in the USA. The Ford plant in Cologne (which exists since 1931!) is probably larger than any of the plants here in the USA, and the cooperation has decided to close a couple of other plants in Europe (Genk, Belgium, which opened in 1964, and one in the Southampton, UK, operating since 1953) which were producing different models for the European market.
Ford is the largest car manufacturer in the UK btw!
Hey, at least he wasn't texting.
Nice to see the fines in Germany are quite reasonable, based on the infraction. Not so here in the US, they'll rake you for $500 for something less serious.
Could have been worse. Had he done that in Switzerland his fine would have depended on his ability to pay and assets. They've had instances of fines in excess of $200K for speeding.
As well fines should be percentage based. A $500 fine is not equal punishment for someone making $50,000 a year, as it is for someone making $500,000 a year, as it is for someone making $5,000,000 a year. Equal crime deserves equal punishment and if reparations are made in payment of fine then the fine must be levied in such a manner that it affects equally regardless of income.
Kind of like being fined by a jury of your peers. LOL
Worse, Voter-in-LA ?
He would only pay that much, if he were a multimillionaire. And rightly so, because you should feel the pain.
Secret Agent MAN!!
Give a working man a break. He is probably an ambulance chasing lawyer cruising the autobahn for his next client. (LOL)
Me no can read! He is an IT guy
The German Highway Police are actually quite strict about speed, but they will not pull you over for just that (they mail a ticket) what got this guy stopped was the right side passing and inattentive driving.
Chances are, they pulled him over because he passed on the right.
Interesting - an American model Ford Mondeo?
Doubtful:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Mondeo
scroll down to current model:
And fwiw Ford recently announced closing the Genk factory where they were mostly built.
German spec Ford. Not available in the US.
the Mondeo has been out in Germany longer than 2005. I drove one on the autobahn back in 1994, been out at least that long...
Nary a single strip of duct tape to be seen.
Very nice installation!
US drivers take notice. He was cited for passing on the right. You slow pokes who like to hang out in the left lane need to get in the right lane. Slow pokes who hang out in the left lane in Germany have a nickname. They are called fatalites.
Speeding on the autobahn- go figure.
Average autobahn speed is much lower than on a typical interstate freeway in US.
Since when is the German Autobahn "infamous"? On another point, Ford has been selling economical, stylish cars in Europe for decades. Why they rarely, if ever (I think I saw the Ford Taurus first as a Ford Sierra in Germany.), imported those designs to the US is a mystery to me.
Big deal. He works in IT he needs communication for system maintenance, printing reports etc. I don't see anything wrong with it as long as it doesn't impede driving and it's screwed down properly. It was simpler with horse buggies. American cops have quite a lot of hardware set up on the front passenger areas sometimes: two laptops are not uncommon rigged to all sorts of databases( DMV, FBI, Homeland sec, ...). I've seen printers in there too. Radios, radars and more. If law enforcement needs it for work maybe possibly others do too. A real estate agent, a doctor, a salesman could easily need that set up. I'm willing to bet it is already happening. Welcome to 2012.
Here the police will give you a ticket if you are driving while talking on your phone. I wonder why every single cop I see is doing just that? It is control freaks in state government looking for more ways to control people and take their money from them. Let them quit first.
The guy was probably born in Austin, TX... :D
"The man now faces a fine of more than $170 for speeding and passing traffic in a right-hand lane"
I wish law enforcement across the United States would also enforce this law - and that the minimum fine would be at least $500!
"The man now faces a fine of more than $170 for speeding and passing traffic in a right-hand lane"
I wish law enforcement across the United States would also enforce this law - and that the minimum fine would be at least $500!
They guy's just trying to make a living! Hopefully he's not as dumb as it looks.
He is.
I think driving should be a right, and at your own risk. And insurance should be optional. Any insurance should be for you, not others. No insurance, no money. No law suits either, unless you can prove criminal negligence.
That said, get in an accident and have it determined you were driving dangerously (speeding etc), throw the book at you. No fines and ticket crap.
Driving has been turned into a huge money making scam for government, and big insurance companies. And its the same crap everywhere, not just here. As this story points out.
Freedom: I like your opinion.
I'll go you one better. Get in an accident that seriously injures me or any of my passengers, and I have the right to blow your brains out the back of your head. Mmm-kay?
Most likely a "Turk" and not a German!! Those people are sleaze balls!!