High school students head to traffic court
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Angie Tocci, a student at Trinity High School, testifies in front of District Judge David Mark during a mock traffic court for local students at the North Strabane Township building Thursday.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
District Judge David Mark presides over a mock traffic court for local students at the North Strabane Township building.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Bethlehem-Center student Andrew Bower, left, portrays the attorney for classmate Andrew White, who is the “ticketed driver” during a mock traffic court Thursday at the North Strabane Township building. District Judge David Mark (not shown), North Strabane police Sgt. Dave Richards and state Trooper Robert Broadwater, right, played their parts as they would in a real traffic court situation.
Peyton Knoble swore he was not texting when he was stopped on Route 19 near Weavertown Road, but rather looking at the playlist on his cellphone.
But North Strabane Township police Sgt. David Richards had a different version of what happened, explaining to District Judge David Mark that he clearly saw the senior at Jefferson-Morgan High School using a distinctive typing motion. He “charged” Knoble with texting while driving.
Knoble was never really charged by Richards, but the scenario was part of a teen safety program Thursday held by the state Department of Transportation and PA Traffic Safety. The mock traffic hearings educated young drivers from the Trinity Area, Bethlehem-Center and California school districts in Washington County, Jefferson-Morgan in Greene County and Monessen in Westmoreland County on the consequence of unsafe driving behaviors.
There were 20 fake citations distributed to students earlier this week so they could prepare for their day in court, said Jay Ofsanik, PennDOT safety press officer.
Richards asked Knoble if he had to take his eyes off the road to look at the list. Knoble said he did. In finding him guilty of the violations, Mark said the law on texting while driving is somewhat controversial and there are several loopholes in the law that he would like to see addressed by the state legislature.
“When an officer sees someone texting, it is almost like hearsay,” Mark said. “I have one officer who when he sees what appears to be a driver texting, gets them to admit to doing it. Texting while driving is a dangerous situation.”
Richards told Knoble to imagine closing his eyes for five seconds.
“In that amount of time, your vehicle will have traveled the length of a football field,” Richards said. “Just think, someone could have walked out in front of you or a car in front may have stopped. You will not be able to react.”
Andrew White, a Beth-Center senior, accompanied by his attorney, fellow Beth-Center student Andrew Bauer, also unsuccessfully defended his texting while driving citation given to him by state police Trooper Robert Broadwater. White claimed he was not texting, but rather checking the global positioning system on his cellphone while driving on Interstate 79.
White said there was no place to pull over as he drove in the left lane past the trooper’s cruiser. Broadwater told him he could have gotten off the highway to check. Mark told White he did not accept the explanation, also finding him guilty.
Ben Zboyovsky, a senior at Monessen, was cited for not moving over for an emergency vehicle. He was in the right lane of I-79 and failed to move over to the left for Broadwater, who had another vehicle stopped on the berm.
Mark told the teen there is zero tolerance for that, explaining he should have slowed his vehicle. The judge also explained how serious it could have been if someone had been struck by the teen’s vehicle.
Angie Tocci, a junior at Trinity, had her license for less than six months when she was spotted with four passengers in her car on Racetrack Road. Richards explained new drivers can have only one other person in their vehicle for the first six months. Tocci tried to explain there was an emergency, and she knew she wasn’t supposed to have that many people in her vehicle. Mark also found her guilty.
“A license to drive is not a right, but a privilege,” Mark said. “If you get a ticket, don’t ignore it because it could lead to a license suspension.”