Supreme Court upholds law about holding cellphone while driving

The Supreme Court has upheld the police position, and the law as defined until now, by rejecting the appeal of a Jerusalem driver who had been ticketed with a 1500nis fine, and revocation of his drivers license, for holding his cellphone while driving.

The driver first appealed in the lower courts and lost his appeal twice, so he continued to appeal further to the Supreme Court. he must have money to burn, considering he had already lost on appeal twice.

Mr Driver felt he had a good case, admitting he had been holding his phone but claiming he had not been using it. Further, he claims to have been stopped at a red light at the time, and not actually in motion.

The courts decided to accept the claims of the police that he was actually in motion, though they also stated that being stopped at a red light is still considered being in a traveling vehicle and is the same as being in motion. The court therefore upheld the punishment levied on Mr Driver.

I would add that it has been stated before by the courts that just being stopped is not enough and one would actually have to have put the car in park - though I do not know if you put the car in park at a red light if that would be good enough or if you have to first pull over to the side of the road and park properly.

Back to the case, the Supreme Court stated that a driver of a car must hold the steering wheel (or handlebars) with both hands whenever the car is in motion. The driver can remove one hand from the steering wheel only if he needs to perform an action necessary for the integrity of the car or for fulfilling the rules of driving. As well, the court stated, his use, or lack thereof, of the phone while driving is irrelevant, as simply holding the phone while driving is prohibited and punishable.
source: Maariv

I would guess that this means to set the blinkers to warn drivers of your impending right or left turn, to hit the hazard button, to adjust the windshield wipers, and the like. As I have asked before, I do not know why it is ok to fiddle with the radio, considering the severity of the laws of holding cellphones and recently even holding or drinking coffee (and other drinks) or checking waze while driving. Adjusting the radio has nothing to do with rules of the road or integrity and safety of the car, so I dont get why adjusting the radio is not a ticketable offense. Or maybe it is and now it is time to figure out those newfangled buttons on the steering wheel that control the radio.

Regardless, drive safely. Forewarned is forearmed. Get a dash mount, keep your phone in your pocket, put it in the glove compartment, leave it at home - whatever, just don't hold it while you are driving.

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