Police officers pose as construction workers in hands-free driver sting

MARIETTA, Ga. (FOX 5 Atlanta) - Many folks are on summer vacation right now, but that doesn’t mean the law is also on break. That’s especially true for distracted drivers, especially those who use their cellphones while behind the wheel.

A multi-agency effort was out in full force Wednesday to remind people about the law and hand out more than a hundred citations.

On Wednesday morning, Marietta and Cobb County police were joined by Georgia State Patrol troopers near the Big Chicken along Cobb Parkway and Roswell Street. The operation was truly impressive.

The law has been in effect for a year, but officers said they are seeing drivers fall back into their bad habits.

Officers and troopers were waiting in just about every corner lot along a 4-mile stretch around the Big Chicken, waiting for word from one of the undercover officers dressed as construction workers. Those officers walked up and down the medians spotting drivers being distracted and radio ahead to the waiting units. Officers said some of the drivers were so obvious that they could have been in full uniform and would have been oblivious to their presence.

The radio calls kept coming in one after another. Officers said they also found seatbelt violations and even people running red lights during the three-hour operation.

Officer said if they were not caught in this operations, they will in another and in another place. They said they hope drivers will see this as a cautionary tale.

The first citation is a $50 fine and 1 point on a driver’s license. It goes up $50 and 1 point increments from there for each additional citation.

Officers said they hope people will get the hint before that happens.

GSP troopers as well as Cobb County and Marietta police made out a total of 170 citations and made three arrests during Wednesday's operation.