*Unofficial*Cell phone law - from Langley RCMP officer
 

As promised in http://www.revscene.net/forums/69876...ml#post8541292


Reporting back...

A cellphone can be kept within reach (passenger seat, center console, cupholder etc). Cellphone cannot be held in your hand at any moment.

The driver can press 1 button to perform a function such as answer a call via bluetooth, check the time, listen to incoming message via voice recognition. You cannot physically pick up the phone to press the button. The phone must remain still.

Using the cellphone as a GPS is permitted; however, programming while driving is considered an offense. Program the route before departing. If your GPS does not re-route, you need to pull over an re-program.

"what we look for is motorists looking down for more than a second or two and dialing numbers or constantly pressing buttons - that is what will get you a fine" - Langley RCMP officer

Disclaimer: above is from a Langley RCMP officer. I take no responsibility for this information - I'm just the messenger.




I plan to use this to my advantage, if some power tripping cop gives me a ticket.

The thing is, you usually can't prove it and it becomes your word vs the officer's word. Regarding pulling over to re-program your gps, you better turn off your car too because if you pull over and re-program while idling, thats basically using a cell phone while operating a vehicle.

TTT - Can this be stickied?

Seems like every few weeks a "I got a cellphone ticket because..." comes up. This seems like a decent criteria list in everyday language.

inb4 someone gets a ticket following that criteria

there's a possibility the officer will let you off with a warning unless you start acting like a cheeky, pretentious legal scholar

As valentanoir said, how are you suppose to prove you were within those guide lines? It is the officers word against yours.

just curious. a lot of ppl say "your word vs the cop's" what does that exactly imply? whenever i hear it, my first instinct is that the judge will take the cop's words over yours, and i think the general consensus is of that as well.

but thing is, if the above is true, does that mean because you're a cop you can successfully convict people based on your "word" without physical evidence to prove that they actually violated the law?

what if you really weren't using your phone, and the cop was jerkin off and "thought" he saw you using your phone and decided to give you a ticket, are you shit out of luck?

So this is an offense. (Caught this with my dashcam)

http://i.imgur.com/OFOItSm.jpg

cops are held at a higher accord. this would definitely give the cops a higher advantage when it comes to so. their words become much more credible and defending against it is that much harder. the thing is, in the court, you have to prove the party beyond a reasonable doubt to convict them of any offense. how does a cop prove that in the case of you using your electronic device illegally, say without pictures or video?

intersection cops look at you for " a few seconds" - if you are staring down chances are you don't seem them and they creep up on you and knock on your window.

if you are pressing one button it doesn't take long and presumably you look up to see what else is going around and spot the cop.

i'm no cop and I while I agree it's an unfair law the above really helps me know where the line is and not cross it.

What about having it on your lap? Sometimes I'll use it for gps and place it there. I'll start it before I drive, then won't touch it until I'm at the destination.

I have my phone in one of those air vent stands on my centre vent. It's so close to my steering wheel that if I ever want to change a song, pick up a call, or generally touch anywhere on the screen, I can just keep my right hand on my steering wheel and extend my pinky over to touch the screen :lawl:

I have been pulled over for using a phone before in my lap (during distracted driving awareness week last year :troll:), was turning right from Howe onto W Georgia, heard a motorcycle pull up next to me, continued using my phone for a good 30 seconds, checking texts and texting back. Finished texting and decided to check out the motorcycle beside me. Lo and behold it was a VPD Harley and I got that instant sinking feeling like ohhhh shit, the officer motioned for me to pull over and I got a ticket :facepalm:

Since that day I have never used my phone while driving, only while it's on the stand for little things like the above mentioned.

Case in point, distracted driving is not worth it from both a financial standpoint, and a safety standpoint, ESPECIALLY for all those idiots with their head down texting while driving. You're either going to kill yourself, or kill someone else.

Besides, all smartphone operating systems have a somewhat useful TTS features, it's there for a reason. Use it!

But then stories like this pop up:

Mountie who Tasered Robert Dziekanski found guilty of perjury

Which proves that if an officer would lie in such a serious event as the one above, what would they lie about in traffic court. Obviously not all officers are the same, but the truth is that the innocent until proven guilty needs to apply in ALL legal matters, including traffic court. So if the cop can't prove beyond a reasonable doubt (which his word is not) then the case should get tossed.

I find this to be more dangerous than actually texting. I've tried using the TTS, then you gotta read it back, then if there's a mistake, which there almost always is, you gotta select the word or delete the whole thing, all of which takes more time and focus than rewriting it.

Until we have Star Trek quality voice recognition, people will text and drive.