January last year Steven R Spriggs was
stopped by police in California, USA for using a smartphone as
a navigational aid. As per him, he got stuck in a traffic jam near downtown Fresno and thought
nothing of whipping out his iPhone 4 and clicking on the map feature to see if
there was an alternate route around the construction mess. He was
surprised when he looked up and saw a California Highway Patrol motorcycle
officer ordering him to pull over. He showed the officer that he was looking at
a map and not texting or talking. He got a $160 ticket. having graduated from a Law school, he
obviously sued claiming that it was not explicitly forbidden in the existing
legislation covering the use of a mobile phone while driving.
It is reportedly said that he initially brought a paper map to court to
argue that it was legal to hold it while driving. Not persuaded, the traffic
court commissioner found him guilty. He appealed to the three-judge panel
of Fresno Superior Court, arguing in a legal brief that the iPhone has a
flashlight feature and other functions that can be useful to a driver and
aren't as dangerous as texting or talking. As he is no 'Jolly LLB'; he again
lost.
Fresno County Judge, writing on March 21 for the
three-judge panel upholding the commissioner's ruling, said "the primary
evil sought to be avoided is the distraction the driver faces when using his or
her hands to operate the phone. That distraction would be present whether the
wireless telephone was being used as a telephone, a GPS navigator, a clock or a
device for sending and receiving text messages and emails." The
judge also threw out an argument that the term "using" could not be
expanded beyond making a phone call to using a phone app -- ruling that if the
law had intended to limit the application of the statute to
"conversing" or "listening and talking," then it could have
done so.
Fortunately, as of now, the ruling doesn't apply
outside of Fresno County. However it opens a bigger debate
on Technological advancements v/s archaic legal provisions. In this case
the driver was holding the smart phone while using the application. What
happens when the smartphone is mounted on cradle. Someone may argue that one
can talk on speaker phone even while not holding the phone in hand. So ultimately
what seems more important to me is the intent. Else, why should a person spent
and keep different devices, when a phone can serve as clock, music player,
navigator, climate indicator etc........
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