Is you car running and are you in it? They YOU are “driving”!
for purposes of DUI , if you’re on a public street , in the car, with possesion of the ignition key, you’re driving.
Yes, of course you are driving and talking on a cell phone.
Not that there should be anything WRONG with that...
If you are not parked and on the road then “yes”.
If you are in a vehicle that is running and a part of the traffic, whether moving at any specific time or not, YES, you are driving. NO, you should not be using a cell phone. When using a cell while behind the wheel the driver IS NOT paying attention to anything else around him/her.
Yep.
No need to do any scrolling. This is the direct link to the blog posting:
http://volokh.com/2011/11/15/if-youre-stopped-at-a-red-light-are-you-driving/
Which links us to another blog:
http://howappealing.law.com/111511.html#043586
Which then takes us to the source articles.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/15/BAL91LV1C0.DTL
http://www.law.com/jsp/ca/PubArticleCA.jsp?id=1202532415707
http://calapp.blogspot.com/2011/11/people-v-nelson-cal-ct-app-nov-14-2011.html
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/A131301.PDF
Yes. You are driving. You are responsible for controlling the car on the road. If a car comes careening at you from any direction, even when stopped, you should at least be paying attention enough to take evasive action if possible.
Now, if you are in a parking space with the car in park, that is a different matter. I did actually read right here on FR about a guy that was in the parking lot of a Starbucks, engine running, but in park, checking his phone messages before he took off. A cop wrote him a ticket for driving while on the cell phone. That’s just stupid.
You’re in the middle of the road.
The car is running.
The transmission is in drive.
You’re driving.
-PJ
” at least for purposes of interpreting a California law that prohibits using a cell-phone while driving “
at least for purposes of [squeezing every last drop of revenue out of the citizenry]
Fixed it....
Yes. You are in control of the vehicle in the driver’s seat on a public roadway.
Conservatives accept responsibility when they ignore the law and then get caught.
IS THE GEAR IN DRIVE?
I disapprove of enforcing this law on the driver of a vehicle that is not moving, and I disapprove of having laws that are not enforced. The obvious intent is to maximize revenue, but that is an abuse of police power. If a woman can apply makeup legally and a man can read the newspaper legally, they should be able to text too while stopped. The law should be changed.
I just have a one question for all of you. This question has baffled me for 50 years, ever since I was in high school.
If you are at any service window, such as post office, restaurant, school....any where, and you are doing business with the person at the window, and their phone rings. They always stop with you and give phone immediate attention. This is very annoying since you have made effort to get to the service window in person, and the after coming phone call gets higher priority.
So, getting back to cell phones, unless your wife is about to deliver a baby, or some one in your family is having surgery, where is the urgency to attend to the cell phone? What is the last time any one called you (or texted) to give you a prize? 99% of my calls are when someone wants something from me.
When I first started prosecuting I got the traffic cases (as all new Prosecutors do) and the law in Virginia ws that if you were behind the car, keys in ignition and the car was on a public road, you were driving EVEN if the engine wasn’t running and you were parked on the side of the road in a parking space. The Va Sp Ct ruled on that a couple times. I THINK (though am not sure) that before I retired the Court ruled that you only had to have the keys and they didn’t need to be in the ignition though I am not sure of that.
This is pretty standard in states nationwide.
If the engine is on, your are behind the wheel and the vehicle is in a public traffic lane, then YES you are driving.
You are operating a vehicle still or not.
IIRC, you can be cited for a DUI if you are sitting in the drivers side of a car that is not turned on.