Cops Dress As Shrub To Bust Distracted Drivers In Middlesex Co. Town

DUNELLEN, NJ — If you drove down North Washington Avenue in Dunellen this week with your phone in hand, you may have been watched - by a bush.

An officer disguised in a full ghillie suit, camouflaged to look like a shrub, staked out the downtown sidewalk this week as part of a Dunellen Police Department crackdown on distracted driving.

Positioned on the 100 block of North Washington Avenue, the leafy-looking lookout spotted drivers on their phones during a six-hour enforcement detail, resulting in 74 citations, according to a statement from the department.

Police said they chose the location because it is a heavily trafficked, pedestrian-heavy stretch of downtown, and the detail was aimed at enforcing New Jersey's Handheld Cell Phone Law.

"Did you spot our 'shrub' today?" police wrote in the statement. "If you had your head buried in your phone, probably not!"

"That text or notification can wait," the department added. "Keep your eyes on the road, not your screen!"

The Handheld Cell Phone Law prohibits drivers from using a wireless telephone or electronic communication device while driving unless it is hands-free.

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