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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.

9 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...

  2. Re:This judge needs to be barred! by kenh · · Score: 5, Informative

    Pretty sure in many jurisdiction, simply wearing ear plugs is against the law while operating a motor vehicle on the public roads, and by logical extension, shoving ear buds in your ears reduces your ability to hear what is going on around you.

    That the ear buds had a wire, that the wire was plugged into a phone and that the phone had no charge are nothing more than interesting facts. For example, ear plugs in both ears while driving a motor vehicle or riding a bicycle is against the law.

    --
    Ken
  3. Headsets while driving may be illegal by byteCoder · · Score: 5, Informative

    In many jurisdictions, wearing headsets while driving is illegal (and has been for many years, even before cell phones).

    The RCMP Reminds Canadians That You Can Be Fined For Wearing Earphones While Driving

    AAA Driving Laws: Headsets

  4. Re:The only thing that surprises me about this by Strider- · · Score: 4, Informative

    No, section 7 of the British Columbia Motorvehicle Act prohibits the use of wearing both headphones. They can only be worn in one ear, and only used for hands-free communications.

    I'm not sure why the judge went through the legal gymnastics either.

    --
    ...si hoc legere nimium eruditionis habes...
  5. Re: prison nation by ArhcAngel · · Score: 4, Funny

    Whenever I converse with Canadians I make it a point to work in calling them Americans just to hear them indignantly tell me they aren't Americans.

    --
    "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
  6. How could that logic work? by Murdoch5 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If having earbud in, even if the phone is dead, constitutes distracted driving, then by having the phone in the car to begin with, you'd be guilty. In fact if this logic follows then by having any item in the car, that's not solely for the purpose of driving that car, you're breaking the law.

  7. Re: This judge needs to be barred! by hankwang · · Score: 4, Interesting

    How do motorcyclists in North America prevent hearing damage if they are not allowed to wear earplugs? Wind noise at highway speeds can reach 110+ dB (A) on a bike without wind screen.

    https://m.hear-it.org/motorcyc...

    (Although the a-holes that modify the tailpipes to make them louder deserve to end up deaf.)

    --
    Avantslash: low-bandwidth mobile slashdot.