What is legal and illegal cellphone use in a car?
Aug 2, 2016, 5:55 AM | Updated: 9:06 am
Twelve percent of drivers are phone addicts who can’t control their urge to look at the phone., Dave Ross says. (MyNorthwest)
(MyNorthwest)
We all know it’s against the law to have your cellphone to your ear while driving, but is enforcement of that law uniform for all police departments?
KIRO Radio listener Katie Lynn asked for a little clarification when it comes to using a cellphone in a car. Can you text while stopped at a traffic light? Can you make a call while the car is running, but stopped on the side of the road?
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The law reads that any person operating a moving motor vehicle, with phone to ear, is guilty of the infraction. But it turns out different agencies have different interpretations of what a moving motor vehicle is.
State Trooper Mark Francis told me this is what he considers legal.
“If you are off the roadway, car turned off, car in park, obviously you’re not operating a moving motor vehicle … that is the correct time to make a phone call.”
Just don’t do it on I-5 because it’s a limited access freeway, which means no unnecessary shoulder stopping.
But here’s where it gets interesting.
All agencies agree that a driver with the car in park wouldn’t get a ticket. But some disagree on whether a driver stopped at a traffic light would get a ticket.
If all it takes to move a vehicle is move your foot from the brake to the gas, it’s a ticketable offense, Francis says.
Tacoma police agree. You’re busted if your phone is to your ear at a traffic light. Seattle police also agree.
But Everett police say otherwise. A driver making a call, with phone to ear, stopped at a traffic light would not get a ticket. A sergeant with Everett Police says the law is clear; the car must be moving. If it’s stopped at a light, it is not moving.
RCW: Sending, reading, or writing a text message while driving
The best advice is to avoid a call unless you are pulled over and in park. Or better yet, go hands free all the time. I wish I had a better answer for listener Katie Lynn.
What is becoming quite clear is that the Legislature needs to clean up and clarify the language of this law so we’re all working off the same playbook.
