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Man Caught Wearing Earbuds With a Dead Phone Found Guilty of Distracted Driving (www.cbc.ca)

Posted by BeauHD on from the court-says-yes dept.

Freshly Exhumed writes: RCMP officers spotted a man driving with earbuds plugged into his iPhone. The phone was not in his hands nor on his lap, was not playing music or video, and the driver was not using it to talk to someone or navigate. The battery was, in fact, completely dead. Nonetheless, a judge has ruled that "by plugging the earbud wire into the iPhone, the defendant had enlarged the device, such that it included not only the iPhone (proper) but also attached speaker or earbuds," he wrote. "Since the earbuds were part of the electronic device and since the earbuds were in the defendant's ears, it necessarily follows that the defendant was holding the device (or part of the device) in a position in which it could be used, i.e. his ears." On the question of the battery, the judge said he relied on a 2015 precedent set in a Canadian provincial court, which says that holding an electronic device in a position where it could be used constitutes an offense, even if it is temporarily not working.

6 of 310 comments (clear)

  1. Rick And Morty on A=A by JBMcB · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "If you go to where there's a bunch of ice cream and then you don't come back, you haven't actually gotten ice cream, you've just gone where ice cream is.."

    I guess watching TV that isn't turned on is still watching TV, then.

    --
    My Other Computer Is A Data General Nova III.
    1. Re: Rick And Morty on A=A by Obfuscant · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Fun fact: deaf people can drive in Virginia. All other states that I know of, too. Punishing people for not having a capability that is OPTIONAL is simply wrong.

      If the idiot judge wanted to convict someone of driving while impaired, he could have done that. "Distracted" is patent nonsense.

    2. Re: Rick And Morty on A=A by evil_aaronm · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I'd say something about how I'm hearing impaired, you insensitive clod!, except, in this case, I guess I win. My cochlear implant has a 3.5mm port into which I often plug my music source while I'm driving. It'll work with a phone, too, if I want to carry on a conversation. From all appearances, you wouldn't know I was driving "distracted." So, sucks to be "normal," in this case, I guess. Sorry...

    3. Re: Rick And Morty on A=A by Obfuscant · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Many state outlaw driving with an earplug in both ears,

      You cannot have "many state". You cannot put an earplug in both ears. You can put earplugS in both ears, however. Doing so is not considered "distracted" and not punished under distracted driving laws like this Canadian judge did.

      It's also silly, since being able to hear is not a requirement to drive. Why would not being able to hear be a crime, if you can legally drive without being able to hear?

  2. Re: prison nation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I have never heard of anyone, other than a United States citizen/resident, define themselves as an American. Canadians are proud to be Canadian - from Canada. Mexicans likewise, from Mexico. In fact, only ONE nation on the face of the Earth uses the word America in its name - and that is the United States of America. Thus, if someone says "American", it means, in fact, from the USA. You're probably from the EU though, and jealous of the fact you're still a bunch of 2nd rate countries who needed the US to bail you out multiple times in the last 100 years, and save your asses from yourselves...

  3. Earbuds block sound by fgouget · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Working or not earbuds block sound thus limiting the driver's ability to perceive his environment which makes it dangerous driving.