加州三年前出台的手機免持法（Hands-free Cell Phone Law）規定似乎很簡單，駕駛時持手機通話為違法行為，極少例外。
接著禁止收發簡訊的法律出台。但如今手機功能繁多，可當做GPS、音樂播放器、錄音機、收發電子郵件等。隨著警方4月進行密集打擊手機違規，不僅駕駛人，就連部分警員對駕駛時使用手機，如何違法與不違法都捉不準界線何在。
加 州公路巡警科瑞爾說：「要說漏洞，整個使用手機、收發簡訊或駕駛分神的問題都模棱兩可。」例如，閱讀、選擇與輸入電話號碼，並在通話前放下手機便是合法 的。但在等待紅燈時，發送簡訊違法。部分警員認為，只要操作不花太多時間，駕駛時可將手機作為音樂播放器使用。但大部分警員認為，手持手機使用GPS功能 違法。
在手機免持法生效前，禁止超速駕駛的法令也被用來打擊駕車時吃漢堡、翻CD、甚至教訓後座的孩子等駕駛時的分神行為。如今這些法令也被用來填補手機免持法的漏洞。
加州公路巡警巴內特說：「如果駕車時使用iPod造成偏離車道，進行上述動作的安全車速為零，警察就可以開罰單。」然而，比通話更須集中精力的輸入電話號碼卻合法。
不斷革新的技術有助解決人們的困惑。Spring與T-Mobile 上周宣布，提供一項新手機軟體，當車速超過每小時十哩，便自動封鎖除撥打911外的通話與簡訊功能。
Confusion over California's hands-free cellphone law
By Gary Richards grichards@mercurynews.com
When the state's hands-free cellphone law was enacted three years ago, the rules seemed so simple. Holding a phone in your hand to make a call would be illegal. Few ifs, buts or maybes.
Then came a law against texting. Then came an explosion of phones that double as GPS devices, cameras, music players, voice recorders and email dispensers. And today, amid an unprecedented crackdown this month on cellphone scofflaws, what's legal and what's not has motorists and even some cops scratching their heads.
"When you look for loopholes, the whole issue of cellphone use, texting or distracted driving becomes confusing, if not overwhelming," said Officer Steve Creel of the California Highway Patrol.
For example, it's legal to read, select and enter a phone number while driving -- as long as you put the phone down before talking. But you can't send a text while sitting at a red light.
Some officers say it's OK to play some music from your phone if it's done quickly. But most -- though not all -- say using the phone's GPS function is not legal if the phone is held in the hand.
"The GPS thing is goofy," said Phil Fernandez, 50, of Palo Alto, the CEO of a San Mateo software company. "Why can I use the GPS that's built into my dashboard, or a dedicated portable GPS device, but not Google Maps on my iPhone? These laws should be clarified and made consistent."
San Jose State professor John Clapp uses his cellphone to record memos that he can later transcribe as he commutes from Menlo Park. That's illegal, police say. But using a separate tape recorder would be perfectly legal under the hands-free law.
"If my voice memos make me a criminal, then I think it must be a poorly written law," Clapp said. "I think we should be able to do better."
Software engineer Paul Brown of Fremont is so baffled by what's OK that he is considering tossing his phone in the trunk to avoid risking a ticket. Fines and fees now run to $159 and would increase to more than $300 under proposed legislation.
"Better to just not tempt fate at all," Brown said.
The hands-free law prohibits a driver from using a cellphone unless that phone "is specifically designed and configured to allow hands-free listening and talking, and is used in that manner while driving."
Translation: Use a speakerphone as long as its hand-free or an earpiece to avoid a ticket.
Before the hands-free legislation was enacted, laws against traveling at an unsafe speed were used to combat distracted drivers who may have been eating a sloppy cheeseburger, fiddling with a CD or even yelling at kids in the back seat. Today those laws can still be used to cover loopholes in the cellphone law.
If scrolling through your iPod while driving is causing you to veer out of your lane, "then the safe speed for doing that is zero," said CHP Officer Dave Barnett. "So the officer would cite you."
Yet punching in a phone number to make a call -- which takes more concentration than a brief phone conversation -- is legal.
"Go figure," Barnett said.
There is no legislation in the works that would make hands-free laws any clearer, although a bill by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, would increase fines and make a second offense a moving violation.
"As technology changes, so should the law," said Simitian, who wrote the hands-free and texting laws enacted in 2008 and 2009. "But whenever we can, we want to legislate generically to avoid the need for constant and confusing changes."
Evolving technology may offer some help. Sprint and T-Mobile announced last week that they now offer apps that would identify when a car is moving more than 10 mph and lock the phone to prevent users from making calls or sending texts, except for 911 calls. It is aimed at parents concerned about their drivers younger than 18 -- who, under the law, are not allowed to use a cellphone while driving at all, hands-free device or no.
Police say the search for loopholes detracts from the safety issues in play. Talking to someone while driving, dialing a number, texting or scrolling through email are all distractions to be avoided.
But when a call comes in, the temptation to pick up the phone is so great. Clayton Young of San Jose says he recently managed to keep both hands on the wheel while talking on the phone -- which was being held up to his ear by his wife.
"I'm not sure if I broke the law," he said. "If the CHP stopped me, would I receive a ticket?"
Yes, said CHP Officer Brandie Dressel. No, said Lt. Chris Monahan of the San Jose Police Department's traffic unit.
"Your hands are free and it's not illegal," Monahan said. But, he continued, "It's not always the hands that are the problem, sometimes it's the mind that isn't focused. If people want to talk on the phone, including me, pull over. It's just safer."
THE RULES OF THE ROAD
LEGAL
- To read, select or enter a telephone number from a handheld phone.
- To use a handheld phone while driving in a private parking lot, but not in a school, DMV or other parking lot on public property.
- To use GPS on a phone placed in a stationary mount.
- For police and emergency workers to use handheld phones.
- To call 911 from a handheld phone.
ILLEGAL
- Using a handheld phone to talk or text while driving, except to report an emergency.
- For drivers younger than 18 to use a wireless telephone or any mobile device, even if it's hands-free.
- Using a handheld phone to call or text while waiting at a red light.
- Using a handheld phone to record voice memos.
- Effective July 1, it will be illegal to use a wireless phone with a push-to-talk feature as a two-way radio.
IFFY
- Some officers say it's OK to use a phone to quickly change music, but if you spend a lot of time doing this you could be ticketed.
- Most officers say taking photos with a cellphone while driving is illegal.
- Most officers say it's illegal to operate the GPS device on a handheld phone; they recommend placing it on a dashboard mount.
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