Some of us have been pulled over for dumb reasons, but this one takes the cake. A Florida woman was cited for driving with her phone in her right hand. This may seem perfectly reasonable, except there’s one problem — she doesn’t have a right hand. Katie, who goes by the handle @slightlyoff.balance on social media, just received the police body cam footage of her traffic stop, and posted it on Instagram and TikTok for all to see.
At first, she has a good sense of humor about it. After all, she doesn’t have a right hand, and the officer must have made an innocent mistake. “So, you want to just call this a day?” she says. The officer is polite, but continues to insist that he saw her manipulating her phone with her right hand. Several times during the stop, she holds up her right arm that clearly doesn’t have a hand at the end, and can’t possibly hold a phone as he accuses. In the end, the officer cites her for “Wireless Comm. Device/Handheld While Driving – First Offense” with a $116 fine, reports CBS 12 News. She’s taking this to court.
Even if her lack of a right hand isn’t adequate proof of her innocence (and it should be), Florida state law may still be in her favor. According to CBS 12 News, simply holding a phone is actually legal except in school and construction zones. The ticket does not say she was in either of these. Otherwise, drivers are simply prohibited from typing messages on their phones while driving. This would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, without a hand.
Tell it to the judge
The original traffic stop took place on February 11, meaning this has dragged out through the court system for more than three months, an excellent use of time, resources, and taxpayer money. Her first court date was online, and only to plead guilty or not guilty. She pleaded not guilty and opted for a trial rather than a plea deal. Weeks later, she finally has her day in court today. We will update this post when we know how it went.
This ridiculous ordeal has been a complete waste for all involved. It’s obvious from the body cam footage that she has no right hand, and couldn’t possibly have held her phone in it. Why the cop would see this and continue insisting that he saw a phone in her non-existent right hand is beyond me. We’ve seen police PIT maneuver and spike strip the wrong cars. We’ve seen them mistake an Acura Integra’s popping exhaust noise for gunfire. At least they realized their mistake before anyone got hurt, which isn’t always the case.
In a position of so much responsibility, police need to get it right. I’ve had a cop pull me over, realize he made a mistake, and let me go. I have no problem with that. The problem is when they double down and insist they’re right, even when the evidence is right there in front of them.
