Court rules viewing phone while driving OK
-From US News & World Report-
A California appeals court decided Thursday some cellphone use while driving is legal.
Steven Spriggs of Fresno, Calif., successfully argued he didn’t deserve a $165 fine for violating a state law against using cellphones while driving because he was not using his phone for communication, but instead using a map application to find a new route.
“Spriggs contends he did not violate the statute because he was not talking on the telephone. We agree,” a three-judge panel ruled. “Based on the statute’s language, its legislative history and subsequent legislative enactments, we conclude that the statute means what it says – it prohibits a driver only from holding a wireless telephone while conversing on it.”
A spokesman for the California Highway Patrol, which ticketed Spriggs, told the San Jose Mercury News on Thursday “we will continue our enforcement the way we do it,” suggesting drivers won’t be able to automatically dodge a ticket by claiming they were looking at a map.
Read the full story at US News & World Report.
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