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Appellate court overturns conviction, rules use of cell phone maps while driving legal despite ban on texting or talking

Steven Spriggs, a Fresno man who was ticketed for using his iPhone while driving in January of 2012, won an appeal of his conviction today in a ruling that could potentially impact how drivers are allowed to use their phones while on the road.

Because Spriggs was using his phone’s mapping application when he was pulled over, the court overturned his conviction, stating that maps do not fall under the state ban on texting or talking on a cell phone while driving. Any drivers who were previously ticketed for a similar offense may be able to get their own tickets overturned.

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Comments

  1. Rejhi Dyson (@rfd_92) - 10 years ago

    Fresno where????

  2. towamp - 10 years ago

    so can I play games on my phone while driving? Phones should not be used while driving, period. Stop your car on the side of the road when you want to use your phone even for navigation.

  3. sardonick - 10 years ago

    Anybody should be able to do whatever they want to in the privacy of their vehicle. Driving or not. Now, if they cause impact to another persons freedoms or safety through a direct act of their own, then whichever law applies to that infraction should be slapped on them. Not everybody is a douche behind the wheel, and not everybody is irresponsible or considers driving as a collateral event. Blanket banning is bollocks.

    • acslater017 - 10 years ago

      Thing is, studies have shown that everybody thinks they’re good at multitasking behind the wheel, but everybody is NOT. Cognitive tests put the decline in response time on par with smoking marijuana. You drive for many seconds not realizing how you ended up there!

      Not every smartphone app may be the same as drunk driving, but it’s practically an open container.

      • sardonick - 10 years ago

        I maintain my comment…..but I also agree with yours. Clearly multi-tasking takes a percentage of efficiency away from the primary task, and clearly too many people consider driving a collateral event rather than a primary responsibility. Those people, when causing an impact to others, should be duly charged and sentenced. Everyone else, whether in the minority of not, who does accomplish the task without causing an impact (negatively) to others, should not be micromanaged by the government. Just MHO.

    • towamp - 10 years ago

      I hope you don’t live and drive in southern CA where I live with my wife and kids.

      • sardonick - 10 years ago

        Oh look, another pundit tries comedy. I wouldn’t live in hippiefornia if given free housing and a stipend. You’re welcome hippie.

    • Eric Dee (@AVRCStalker) - 10 years ago

      Yeah, while you are driving on a public road? Seriously Sardonick, you are an absolute jerk! So now, driving illegally is perfectly alright. Has you head been examined for brain damage? Think you should head directly to a Crainiologist, do not pass go. So given that well thought out logic, smoking weed, drinking is ok as long as you don’t cause any damage to another vehicle or property. What planet do you reside on. Let me know so I can have you extradited to Mars, where you belong!

      • towamp - 10 years ago

        I’d like to add that using Sardonick’s logic, driving 150mph on public roads should be ok as long as you do not hurt someone else. Next weekend I’m planning on starting a chainsaw and take a walk in downtown. I think I should be ok if I don’t hurt anyone, is that right Sardonick??

      • sardonick - 10 years ago

        Learn to read moron.

      • sardonick - 10 years ago

        If nobody is negatively impacted what difference does it make to you what people do in a free society? Why must people like you always want government to control every breath you take? You’ll probably be the first to whine about getting caught up in the web of all the useless laws. Meanwhile, real criminals walk away with the cake. You people amaze me. If nobody is bothering you, leave them the hell alone, otherwise, if they cause someone or something injury, throw the book at them and punish them to the fullest extent possible. Don’t just assume that if someone “looks” as if they “might” do something wrong, that they will. OH, he has a phone in his car, OH he’s going to kill a bus full of penguins! Get bent.

      • towamp - 10 years ago

        @ sardonick Please seek help!

  4. herb02135go - 10 years ago

    This article omits an important point: California law allows you to be ticketed for distracted driving, regardless of the distraction.

    So, had this driver been cited for distracted driving instead of for using his cell phone, the citation would have stood.

    I wonder how many thousands he spent on legal fess to save a couple hundred in fines/points?

    No one is as good at multitasking as they think they are. No one.