More people are buying cars with television sets in them, usually to entertain their kids, but drivers have been seeing nipples instead of Nemo.
Rather than watching tasteful movies, some people are motivated to offend others by playing sexually graphic films in their automobiles.
“People just do it to get attention,” said Joseph Marino, a civil engineering sophomore, about the growing trend.
The fad has created problems in cities around the country where parents are complaining to police that their young children have seen obscene visuals and it forces the parents to explain what is going on, according to an Associated Press article.
A driver in Schenectady, N.Y. was arrested last month when police saw him driving with “Chocolate Foam” on screens in his Mercedes, authorities said.
The driver was accused of breaking state laws that prohibit watching television while driving as well as a law that prohibits public exposure to sexually explicit material.
The article also said that many cities without these laws are considering hefty fines for the activity, such as Gurnee, Ill., where City Councilwoman Carolyn Sims says her residents have a right to peace and tranquility without having exposure to sex in their face.
Police in these cities have begun ticketing the drivers who play the movies on charges of obscenity, but locally, things have been idle.
“It’s not really a big issue in Baton Rouge and we haven’t gotten any complaints,” said Baton Rouge Police Department Cpl. Mary Ann Godawa.
Laws governing the exhibition of porn vary by state, but experts say they could be applied to drivers, according to the AP article.
After checking with her adviser, Godawa added that there currently is no law in Louisiana that prohibits playing pornographic material in cars.
It becomes a matter of morals once the law is out of the picture, according to 19-year-old Joel Patin, a self-described car audio/video enthusiast with a liquid crystal display screen in his 1996 Volkswagen Jetta.
“Having an LCD screen in my car, i have the power to be offensive, but I also feel that I have a responsibilty to be respectful and not be offensive,” he said.
Marino also has an LCD screen in his 1999 GMC Yukon, but disagrees with Patin.
“I feel that my car is an extension of my household and I am of age to view the material so I don’t see anything wrong with it,” Marino said.
Marino watches porn while driving.
As for the other drivers who might catch a glimpse of lewd sex acts playing in his ride, Marino said they don’t have to look.
“If you don’t like it, ignore it,” he said. “But I wouldn’t want my kid to see it.”
Patin agrees with the latter point and believes that viewing porn in cars is basically viewing in public.
“I think it should be illegal because it forces kids to see things that they shouldn’t be seeing,” he said. “I kind of feel bad for the parents.”
Marino says that though many people play porn in their cars to get attention, he has his own reason.
“I enjoy driving down the street, listening to a CD and watching porn,” he said. “It’s fulfilling.”