The Afoci Spotted Driving in Detroit...

[Franklinnoble]

washingtonpost.com Motorists Spot X-Rated Films in Some Cars


By DAVID RUNK
The Associated Press
Wednesday, March 10, 2004; 2:36 PM



DETROIT - Andrea Carlton hadn't planned on telling her daughter about the birds and bees until she was 8 or 9. But that changed the night 4-year-old Catherine spotted a porno movie flickering on a screen in a minivan nearby.

"Just like there's no windows in a strip club, you shouldn't be able to see inside windows in a car when they're watching X-rated movies," said Carlton, a 26-year-old from Gurnee, Ill.

More and more Americans are buying vehicles with DVD players, usually to keep the kids entertained. But an increasing number of other people on the road are catching a glimpse through the windows of more than just "Finding Nemo" and "SpongeBob SquarePants."

Depending on where they are driving or parked, motorists could face fines and even jail time for screening X-rated stuff. But where the law may not be clear, some are calling for tighter regulation.

"Residents should not be subjected to those obscenities," said Flint City Councilwoman Carolyn Sims, who is examining whether an ordinance packing a $500 fine is needed. "They do have a right to have peace and tranquility and not to have this exposure to sex in their face."

A driver in Schenectady, N.Y., was arrested last month after rolling past police with a DVD titled "Chocolate Foam" playing on the passenger-side sun visor in his Mercedes-Benz, authorities said. The movie also was rolling on screens set into the car's headrests.

The driver was accused of breaking state laws prohibiting watching TV while driving, as well as another law making it illegal to exhibit sexually explicit material in a public place.

"The detective had a clear view of what was playing through the window. Anyone walking by on the street could have see it," Schenectady police Lt. Peter Frisoni Jr. said of the nighttime traffic stop. "If he had dark, tinted windows where you couldn't see in, that wouldn't be a public display."

As for Carlton, she and her husband were driving in the Chicago suburb of Buffalo Grove when Catherine glimpsed the sexually explicit movie. The experience last fall upset the girl and angered Carlton.

Carlton and her husband sat down with Catherine and offered the best explanation they could. Since then, Carlton has spotted other motorists with explicit movies playing, including a couple watching from the back seat of their car in a store parking lot.

"You're not allowed to have sex in your car, so why are you allowed to watch it?" Carlton asked.

Most states, including Michigan, have laws that make it illegal to watch TV while driving. Laws governing the exhibition of pornography vary by state, but experts say they could be applied to drivers as well.

"I think those restrictions would apply if the content is located in a vehicle," said Jeff Matsuura, director of the law and technology program at the University of Dayton. "You have effectively moved beyond the privacy of your own home."

During the day, it is often difficult to see what is playing inside another vehicle. But at night, the screens are easily visible from a passing car or a vehicle stopped alongside at a traffic light. The screens are also getting bigger.

In Flint, Sims took up the issue after hearing from a woman who was driving with her 5-year-old when she spotted porn playing on a vehicle's 13-inch TV screen. A police officer who happened to see the display pulled over the driver, Sims said, but let him off with a warning.

To Sims, a 23-year police veteran who retired in 2001, playing an explicit movie in view of other motorists or pedestrians is akin to flashing or having sex in a public place.

But Michigan State Police, who have not had any cases of in-car porn, say playing an X-rated movie might not be easy to prosecute unless it can be proved that the motorist intended for others to see it.

© 2004 The Associated Press

[Rizon]

What, no mention of The Bang Bus?

[Franklinnoble]

Originally Posted by Rizon

What, no mention of The Bang Bus?

Sorry. I've posted my quota of objectionable links today.

[Scholes]

I've seen this in cars around here a few times... makes me try to keep up with them.

[Draft Dodger]

get ready for the fiesta

[The Afoci]

Nothing like watching porn in the vehicles as you pass. I mean, it beats trying to look through the window at the morgue for your daily porn.

[tucker342]

I know of a way to make this a nonissue, make it so that car companies can't put T.V.s in cars. That would be a whole hell of a lot more safer.

[JeeberD]

I was in a Whataburger drive-thru in Shreveport after a night of gambling when one of my friends noticed that there was something interesting playing in the SUV in front of us. It looked like it was porn, so we started straining our eyes to get a better look, but then my buddy realized that it was two guys going at it on the screen.

Nothin' quite like watching gay porn on the road in Louisiana...

[sterlingice]

I would have a lot more sympathy for these people if they clearly weren't media hounds and this wasn't just some yellow journalism story.

DETROIT - Andrea Carlton hadn't planned on telling her daughter about the birds and bees until she was 8 or 9. But that changed the night 4-year-old Catherine spotted a porno movie flickering on a screen in a minivan nearby.

More and more Americans are buying vehicles with DVD players, usually to keep the kids entertained. But an increasing number of other people on the road are catching a glimpse through the windows of more than just "Finding Nemo" and "SpongeBob SquarePants."

*cue cheesy ominous music*

"The detective had a clear view of what was playing through the window. Anyone walking by on the street could have see it," Schenectady police Lt. Peter Frisoni Jr. said of the nighttime traffic stop. "If he had dark, tinted windows where you couldn't see in, that wouldn't be a public display."

"Hyuk. Them tinted windows shure are purdy"

As for Carlton, she and her husband were driving in the Chicago suburb of Buffalo Grove when Catherine glimpsed the sexually explicit movie. The experience last fall upset the girl and angered Carlton.

Good to see this isn't stale news or anything. Carlton stated "It took us forever to find a reporter who would actually print this story, that's why you didn't see it last fall"

SI

[finkenst]

Residents should not be subjected to those obscenities

i don't think i should be subjected to seeing finding nemo or SBSP on the tv in front of me.

[Nyarlahotep]

Originally Posted by finkenst

i don't think i should be subjected to seeing finding nemo or SBSP on the tv in front of me.

That sounds like a challenge.

[Sun Tzu]

Originally Posted by The Afoci

it beats trying to look through the window at the morgue for your daily porn.

That one is going to stick with me for a while.

[The Afoci]

Originally Posted by Sun Tzu

That one is going to stick with me for a while.

Well it shouldn't unless you went after 3 or 4 days too late. Prior to that, stickiness shouldn't be much of an issue.

[Ksyrup]

Just think of how many more Ford Pintos would have blown up if they had DVD players back in the 70's. All of those sex-starved teens trying to tailgate behind the Pinto, to catch a glimpse of some porn...

[Mustang]

Anyone have any good reviews of 'Chocolate Foam'?

[WSUCougar]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

I was in a Whataburger drive-thru in Shreveport after a night of gambling when one of my friends noticed that there was something interesting playing in the SUV in front of us. It looked like it was porn, so we started straining our eyes to get a better look, but then my buddy realized that it was two guys going at it on the screen.

Nothin' quite like watching gay porn on the road in Louisiana...

This would be an outstanding opening paragraph for our next short fiction contest.

[Samdari]

Originally Posted by tucker342

I know of a way to make this a nonissue, make it so that car companies can't put T.V.s in cars. That would be a whole hell of a lot more safer.

Well, screens being available for passengers in the back seat is less of a safety hazzard than screaming kids. I agree that the one in the passenger sun visor is dangerous, as it is so easy for the driver to adjust it for his own personal viewing.

[Tigercat]

1) I don't know whats scarier, some of the porn references in this thread, or the fact that I actually understood them.

2)Jeeber, Shreveport is hardly Louisiana, thats East Texas. I think Texas and Louisiana need to do some kind of landswap, NW La for SE Texas.

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by WSUCougar

This would be an outstanding opening paragraph for our next short fiction contest.

Or a True Hollywood Story.

[Passacaglia]

Once, driving along 696 in the Detroit suburbs, lurker and I saw a van that had a TV playing What About Bob. Pretty cool.

Anyway, if people are watching porn in their cars, shouldn't we be more worried about car accidents then whether or not kids can barely make it out?

[Rizon]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

Once, driving along 696 in the Detroit suburbs, lurker and I saw a van that had a TV playing What About Bob. Pretty cool.

Anyway, if people are watching porn in their cars, shouldn't we be more worried about car accidents then whether or not kids can barely make it out?

I'm wondering how many of those people actually have both hands on the wheel, and not both hands on their wheel.