Use of wired smartphone headset (headphone/earbud) in one ear as a hands free talking device

legal or illegal? A friend of mine was given a ticket for using a wired headset. The officer’s logic was that the wire can become tangled, thus creating a distraction. He is not wrong, but to my inexperienced knowledge there is no FMCSA regulation which requires a headset to be wireless. It is still a hands free communication device, wireless or not. Apple earplugs can be used as a talking headset in one ear, which I have utilized when I did not have a Bluetooth wireless headset. Nearly all states that even prohibit the use of headphones/earbuds in over or simultaneously in both ears have exemptions for use as a means of communication, navigation, voice and vehicle operation etc.

 

What was the actual violation?

What is the definition of using a mobile telephone?
The use of a hand-held mobile telephone means:

• Using at least one hand to hold a mobile phone to make a call;
• Dialing a mobile phone by pressing more than a single button; or
• Reaching for a mobile phone in a manner that requires a driver to maneuver so that he or she is no longer in a seated driving position, restrained by a seat belt.

Compliance
Make sure the mobile telephone is within close enough proximity that it is operable while the driver is restrained by properly installed and adjusted seat belts.

• Use an earpiece or the speaker phone function.
• Use voice-activated dialing.
• Use the hands-free feature. To comply, a driver must have his or her mobile telephone located where he or she is able to initiate, answer, or terminate a call by touching a single button. The driver must be in the seated driving position and properly restrained by a seat belt. Drivers are not in compliance if they unsafely reach for a mobile phone, even if they intend to use the hands-free function.

Mobile Phone Restrictions Fact Sheet

 

It does not have to be legally forbidden, The officers have a certain amount of discretion, That's why we have courts so you can go in and argue your side. If a cop thinks its a distraction then sure they could write it, that's not saying a judge is going to agree or disagree, even the judges opinion can be swayed depending on the officers testimony.

I personally would think single ear coverage would be ok.

 

How about telling us what State this happened in. What General Location in said state it happened and finally, was it a MCSAP/CVSA/DOT certified cop or a regular local beat cop that wrote the ticket. Might go a long way in helping direct you to get the information needed to answer the question.

 

Actually, it does. The way our system is set up, if something is not defined as "illegal" by the law, then it is perfectly legal to do or use. The officer in writing the citation needs to cite (thus the reason it's called a "citation" ) the law which you are accused of breaking. If there is no law, there can be no citation of a law that was violated.

 

I agree with you, but I think I understand what @Powder Joints was trying to say. The ticket has got to have the code section the cop says the guy violated this is not an option. However, the cop does have a wide degree of latitude in deciding what constitutes a violation of said code section. In the end that is what a court of law is for.

 

I’m currently at a lunch counter.

The super truckers there were very clear in there adjudication of this question.

Their main taking points were:

1. No real man uses a cell phone. “Why I remember when I was a green beret in ‘Nam we had to wind up the talky box and even that was frowned upon. We’d basically glare at it to create electricity. I remember one time Jane Fonda walked by and we were so mad we actually were able to contact Apollo 11 on the Moon. Neil Armstrong told us we were the real hero’s and he invited me to meet the aliens at Area 51. I declined. I don’t like them foreigners.”

2. No real man puts anything in his ear connected to a wire. “I was running deep undercover for the CIA in The Soviet Union and they mistakenly picked me up for integration. They hooked up the Soviet version of a Cat diesel motor and electrocuted my brain. It didn’t work on me and they let me go for fear that my body was storing the energy like that Thor character from Norse mythology. They gave me 2 Russian brides and 10,000,000 rubles to not hurt them.

That’s all you steering wheel lickers and window holders need to know.

Now if you want a good story I can tell you about the time I was flying the SR-71 and got in a dog fight with aliens...

Oh my.

 

Lol

 

You need to start writing a book called the Truckers at the Lunch Counter

 

Only if you edit it.

Besides I just make it all up like they do. LOL