Cullen Edward MacDonald got pulled over last year for texting while driving. When his case went to trial, MacDonald said he wasn't actually texting, he was just holding the phone in his hand, waiting for a text to come in. The adjudicator let him off, saying that holding a phone is a lot different than using a phone: "There’s no evidence that he was either operating it with his hand or speaking into the device.” But the province appealed, and in a Supreme Court of Nova Scotia ruling that came out today, Justice James L. Chipman clearly decided holding a phone while driving is indeed using it.
The Motor Vehicle Act says "It is an offence for a person to use a hand-held cellular telephone or engage in text messaging on any communications device while operating a vehicle on the highway." Justice Chipman in his ruling says the purpose of the law isn't so much to target texting as it is "to prevent people from driving while distracted." And he found MacDonald was distracted two ways.
One, MacDonald averted his eyes from the road to look at the phone to see if a text had arrived. And two, he was using his right hand to hold the phone instead of being exclusively engaged in the important work of steering the car. "Recall, the section in question says it is an offence to use a hand-held cellular telephone OR engage in text messaging. In my view, the plain meaning of the word ‘use’ includes holding a hand-held cellular telephone and looking at it in anticipation of an upcoming text message. Both of these activities would distract a person from keeping his or her eyes on the road."
Let this be a warning to Serial fans that fiddling around with the phone while driving to queue up the last episode would definitely count as some illegal usage. Although if you're going to do it, better sooner than later. Today the lowest fine is $176.45, but in February that’s rising to $233.95.
Read Supreme Court Justice James L. Chipman's decision.
