Cell phones: bad. Video cameras: good.
Cell phones: bad. Video cameras: good. Doug Brown

In a PSA video released this week by the Beaverton Police Department on the state's new driving-with-a-cell-phone law, a Beaverton cop behind the wheel of a squad car takes his eyes off the road to look directly into a camera at his right to explain, without irony, why driving with a cell phone is dangerous. Moments later, an officer driving a motorcycle in traffic looks into a camera in a vehicle in front of him while calmly elaborating on the new law.

"Please, put down the phone and drive safely," the video concludes. No word about video equipment, though.

Take a look:

The BPD responded to someone calling them out on Facebook ("What is the department's stance on filming educational videos while driving or operating heavy machinery?") is below. It was filmed on a street with "lite" traffic, the department says, so it's cool.

the filming was done safely. The camera was in the location you would look to see your passenger side mirror or to speak to a passenger. We also picked a street with lite traffic. Our goal was to produce an educational video that would help our community better understand the new cell phone law. We knew that there would be some negative comments by members of the community that are not happy with the law or law enforcement. We felt the opportunity to educate the community outweighed the negativity that would be voiced by a few community members. If you have ideas on how we could have made this video in a better way, please send us a PM or call Officer Rowe @ (503) 526-2275.

(H/T to Reddit, of course)