MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — It's something police say they see too often – drivers focused on their phones.
"We're having people watch TikTok or Facebook, doing all kinds of things on these mini computers they hold in their hand while they're trying to drive a motor vehicle," said Assistant Chief Darren Francke with Montgomery County Department of Police.
And, Francke says enforcing distracted driving laws can be tricky – because drivers can too easily see officers.
"You have to be able to actually see the violation," Francke said. "By the time they get there, the driver will see us and they'll stop the activity to put it away. That really doesn't help to stop the behavior permanently. It just stops it for a second."
To catch distracted or impaired drivers, Montgomery County Police plan to ghost them.
The department is rolling out a dozen new patrol cars it calls "ghost cruisers."
With the lights moved off the top of the cars, and with marking so faint they're easy to miss, police hope to pull over dangerous drivers before they have a chance to notice and officer is behind them.
"Officers will be able to get up, see the behavior and be able to conduct the traffic stop and interact with the driver," said Francke.
"You take your life in your hands when you go out on the roads," said John Seng with Safe Roads Maryland. He points to state data that show road deaths are up from last year as evidence that police need to do more to stop dangerous drivers.
"It's too bad that they have to play games, if you will, and disguise a police vehicle," said Seng. "But, they do need to enforce the law. And we support any measure of policing that will be effective at reducing roadway mortalities," he said.
Montgomery County says if drivers are concerned about who is pulling them over in these new cars they can always ask for a supervisor.
In the meantime, be on the lookout for the cop car you can't see.