Using a Cell Phone at a Red Light: Legal or Illegal?

There are a lot of people who have strong objections to using cell phones while driving, but I am one of the staunchest opponents you will ever meet. I never use my phone in the car, nor will I talk with someone who is using the phone while driving. If I am in a car and the driver wants to use his or her phone, I won’t shut up about it.

I am a very black and white person and this issue to me is black and white—you shouldn’t use your phone while driving. It’s illegal, it’s dangerous, and there is no excuse for it. If something is so important it can’t wait, I think you should pull over.

But I have a confession to make. Sometimes, while I am at a stop light, I will text. It’s just really quick, like telling my wife I will be there to pick her up in five minutes or to let her know I ran into traffic on the bridge. And once the light turns green, I stop using the phone immediately.

I do feel bad when I do this, like I am a hypocrite. I try to stick to my principles and beliefs even when it’s inconvenient. But part of me wonders if using my phone at a stop light is as bad as using it while the car is actually moving. Yeah, I’m in the car, but isn’t the whole “in motion” part the point? That you are distracted? I don’t feel distracted at a red light.

Enter Carl Nelson. In December 2009, Mr. Nelson was given a ticket when a police officer saw him dial a phone and put it up to his ear while waiting at a red light. Like me, Mr. Nelson was of the mind that the 2007 CA state law forbidding the use of handheld wireless devices only applied when the vehicle was actually in motion. So, he appealed the decision to the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco.

Well, the judge didn’t see things my and Mr. Nelson’s way. The $103 ticket was upheld. Apparently, the law was originally intended to cover “persons driving on our public roadways, who, like (Nelson), may pause momentarily while doing so in order to comply with the rules of the road," said Justice James Lambden in the 3-0 ruling.

Since the spirit of the law is intended to protect public safety, trying to cram in a phone call while at a red light is deemed to still be a threat to the public. Nelson’s lawyer argued that this violated the Supreme Court’s definition of “driving,” established in 1991, that characterizes driving as “volitional movement.”

In the 1991 case, a man was arrested for drunk driving when police found him slumped over the steering wheel, asleep, in a car that was legally parked, with the motor still running. The court found him not guilty of drunk driving because the vehicle wasn’t moving. In Nelson’s case, the court ruled against him because though he wasn’t moving, he was on the street, thus creating the public safety threat.

At the end of his appeal, Nelson’s lawyer tried to get the court to take a position on whether it’s okay to use your phone to call home if you are stuck for hours in a traffic jam. The court refused to comment on this and other scenarios raised by the defense.

What do you think? Should it be okay to use your phone while you are stopped at a light? Do you think we need more or less restrictions when it comes to cell phone use and operating a motor vehicle?