Posted on 10/26/2009 9:54:41 AM PDT by ZGuy
A friend just got a ticket for talking on his cell phone while in his parked car in a Starbucks parking lot. He got his coffee and, with the car parked, started the engine and made a call to his next appointment to say he was on his way. A cop pulled up, walked over and wrote him up for talking on his cell phone while “driving” (even though the car wasn’t on the road or moving). The cop said that the new law is interpreted the same way as drunk driving--if you are behind the wheel of a car, drunk, while the engine is running, you can be arrested for DWI. So too they can write you up for talking on a cell phone while behind the wheel of a running, albeit parked, vehicle. The law is another gift from Arnold.
Most states do not allow traffic tickets to be written on private property. Tell your friend to check into that.
For instance, if you hit a car in a parking lot, you could be shown as ‘at fault’ on the police report, but receive a traffic citation for whatever traffic law you disobeyed.
aRnie, the gift that keeps giving,, uhh, giving your dough to green-fascists
Here is your friend’s ticket out of his ticket. Being in the Starbucks parking lot is his get out of ticket free card.
Hope it helps!
http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/article-29709.html
Ban on Handheld Cell Phones
The first law bans all drivers from using handheld cell phones while driving, starting July 1, 2008. The law does not affect passengers — they are free to use cell phones while traveling in an automobile. The law applies to anyone driving in California, whether the driver lives in California or not.
Exceptions. There are a few exceptions to the general ban. Handheld cell phones may be used:
to make an emergency call to a law enforcement agency, medical provider, fire department, or other emergency service agency
by those operating authorized emergency vehicles, and
by those operating vehicles on private property.
The DUI laws say if you are in a parked car, (engine running or not) and have the keys in the car or on your person, you are charged with DUI.
I'd tell this guy to fight the ticket since the responsible thing to do with a cell phone is to pull to the side of the road to make/receive the call. Weather or not the engine is running is not germane to the intent of the law which is to prevent distracted driving. (And a cup of hot coffee can be more far distracting than a cell phone if you spill it on your lap. Maybe he deserves a ticket for sitting in his car with coffee too. ;~))
Small town cops tried to bust me for DUI while parked two weeks ago. I drove 90 miles to Midland to shop, had a big steak dinner with a single beer and drove home. About 30 miles from home I felt very sleepy and decided to take a nap. Found a well lit church parking lot in Seminole and pulled in.
About 11:00 p.m. cop bangs on my window and asks what I'm doing. Tell him I was sleepy and stopped to take a nap. Tells me to get out of the truck and says my eyes are bloodshot. Ask if I was drinking and tell him I had a beer (which I didn't finish) with my meal. By then two more cops show up -- must be the entire police force! Then they run my plates and DL and both o.k. Ask me to take a breathalyzer test. I say no problem and blow 0.00. Then they tell me not to park there again and send me on my way. Can't complain about their demeanor, they were polite, but just the fact that I was rousted out while doing nothing but taking a nap in a lit parking lot pissed me off.
If I had blown anything below the legal limit, they could have said I was impaired (my stopping would have been evidence that I was, I guess) and hauled me in. Needless to say, I won't be taking a nap in that town again. Best to find another location.
A kid in our youth group got an 8 point ticket for doing donuts in his truck in a vacant field- his grandpa's. The ticket was for reckless driving, so I don't think private property matters.
8 points is a pretty excessive fine for a young guy- his insurance will be so high he'll proabably not drive for a long, long time.
What an A-hole cop. I didn’t know you could get ticketed on your own family’s property? We had a a private dirt road in Alabama that I learned to drive on at age 14. The cops there could have cared less that I drove on our own road while being underaged. I know this from the fact that one came onto the road once and pulled me over. He only wanted to know when my grandpa would be back in town so that they could go fishing at Lake Guntersville.
If the shop serves donuts..........pretty good.
“You want to find an outlaw, you hire an outlaw. You want to find a Dunkin Donuts, you call a cop.” - Raising Arizona
Great! I will definitely pass it along! Thanks!
I’m surprised California doesn’t give out tickets for turning on your car without driving — it’s such a waste of energy and all.....
Is this in CA?
What ? My young friend who got the ticket for donutting in his grandpa's field ? No, that was in Colorado.
I am sure I read of a law against idling for more than 3 minutes....I think it was in San Fransisco.
Private property absolutely matters and the kid you know got suckered into a ticket that he didn’t have to take if had fought it.
Not in California.
Doing donuts in a vacant parking lot (when I was a kid) is how I learned the difference between front wheel and rear wheel drive. Front wheel drive = Drive in reverse for donuts. Rear Wheel Drive (my dad’s Ford LTD) = Drive forward for the donuts. This is still the reason I prefer at least front wheel drive for snow (if no 4-wheel drive is available. Too bad I drive a rear wheel drive Mustang in Ohio now.
Of course, my dad would have taken my keys if he had caught me doing it.
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