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Do you think it’s okay to just keep your phone while driving just by looking at the navigation app? Think about it again.
The state appeals court ruled Tuesday that it is illegal to hold a phone to view on-screen maps while driving, while state law prohibits drivers from sending or speaking text messages on their mobile phones.
The court ruled that drivers do not need to swipe or tap the navigation application to break the law. Simply looking at the map on the screen with your phone in hand will justify being pulled by your ticket.
When legislators adopted current state laws that prohibit drivers from “operating” cell phones while driving, they “reduce distracting driving caused by modern advances in telephones and encourage drivers to look to the roads,” the appeals court ruled.
Mounted phones and drivers will be exempt from drivers operating in one swipe as per their decision, but when they look at the map while making the call, the court ruled that the current law was violated.
“It is contrary to Congress’ intentions to allow drivers to call and view the mapping application even if they are not touching the phone screen,” the ruling said.
The court’s decision came after Nathaniel Gabriel Porter was issued after seeing the mapping application while driving by calling on his left hand. Porter challenged the ticket, but according to the court’s ruling, he lost his first court appearance and was ordered to pay a $158 fine.
Porter appealed the decision in the Appeals Division of Santa Clara County Superior Court, which reversed, and the then-highest court held that the “operation” of the mobile phone must “operate” “actively use or manipulate the device.”
“Simply observing GPS instructions over the phone does not constitute the type of active use or operation to cause a violation,” the court ruled at the time.
However, the California Court of Appeals for the Sixth Appeal District overturned the decision Tuesday, saying the law was written and the intended law stated that it was against the violation of watching and holding a phone while driving.
The current version of the law, adopted by Congress in 2016, was introduced after a previous court decision also raised questions about the California phone and driving law version.
The case also occurred when it was discovered that the driver was found guilty of violating the law because he was looking at a map on his phone while driving. However, when the lawsuit reached the Court of Appeal, it interpreted the word “use” in the language of law as prohibiting listening and speaking while driving with a mobile phone.
According to a written decision by the court, the interpretation was because state law at the time had to be used in a way that allowed “hands-free listening and speaking.”
In 2016, the law was amended, with lawmakers pointing out that mobile phones would act more as “pocket-sized computers,” and that the law was too narrow.
A California Court of Appeals said it was ruling Tuesday that when the current law was drafted, the Congressional Committee on Transport and Budget concluded that it would prohibit the new law from being used “for any purpose” while driving, including “cautionary attention to all mobile device-related actions.”
This includes playing games on your phone, browsing the internet, and looking at the map of your phone screen while holding your device under recent rulings.
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