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It was like shooting fish in a barrel.

From the privileged vantage point of an unmarked white tour bus (with tinted windows, no less), agents of Contrôle routier Québec (CRQ) and the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) had a field day on Tuesday, catching drivers talking or texting on their cellphones and/or not wearing their seatbelts.

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“The objective is to witness infractions,” said Marie-Josée Michaud, spokesperson for the CRQ. “On a plain bus, a ghost bus, high up — it’s not a patrol car, so people aren’t expecting it.”

A crew of curious journalists tagged along while six observers — three each from the CRQ and the SQ — closely studied each vehicle passing the bus, moving along Highway 40 near Vaudreuil, at a steady but modest clip in the right lane.

Photo by Peter McCabe / Montreal Gazette

“As you see, we can see very well into vehicles,” Michaud said. “We’re the same height as the trucks, so we know if they’re not wearing their seatbelts or if they’re on their cellphone. In a patrol car, you’re too low to see. Now many people use their cellphones at hip level to talk, text or look at information. We have to adapt to this reality.”