The authorities are on to you. Yeah, you. The person who thinks that you can totally get away with texting and driving as long as you keep your phone in your lap. In order to catch you, the Empire State spent a million bucks to launch a shiny new fleet of Chevy Tahoes that let state troopers stare at motorists’ crotches.

Well, no. Not like that. Phone use while driving is illegal in New York and has been since that quaint era when people mostly used mobile phones for talking. That means texters keep their phones in their laps and their eyes on the phone. This is dangerous.

New York’s solution to the problem is kind of creepy, though. Those modified Tahoes are unmarked vehicles with special raised seats that let law enforcement see the laps of oncoming motorists. ABC News and the state’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, did a ride-along with troopers (WARNING: AUTO-PLAY VIDEO) in one of the new Lapmobiles. They caught a distracted driver within minutes of getting on the highway.

“How are you?” the trooper asks the driver as he approaches the vehicle.
“I’m so sorry. I was on the phone,” she answers. Yes. Yes, you were.

NY Launches Specialized Vehicles to Nab Texting Drivers [ABC News] (Warning: Auto-plays video – via Jalopnik)

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