SFist Photo: What's This Ferrari Driver Doing Wrong?
Yes, he's driving with the top off in the rain, but that's not illegal.
How about the iPod headphones in both ears? Could that get you a ticket in San Francisco and everywhere else in California, whether you're driving a car or a bicycle? Oh yes. Read a tale of woe from Stanford and see what John Law has to say, after the jump.
First off here's the law, basically, from the Department of Marmots and Voles:
27400. A person operating a motor vehicle or bicycle may not wear a headset covering, or earplugs in, both ears.
Do you see a way around that? We don't. So sharing with a friend like this is O.K.
But putting both buds in is not O.K.
This student from Stanfoo clearly articulates his outrage in reaction to getting a $118 ticket for cycling while iPodding. Amusing comments included.
The experts seem to agree. So let's be careful out there.
CVC 27400. A person operating a motor vehicle or bicycle may not wear a
headset covering, or earplugs in, both ears. This prohibition does
not apply to any of the following:
(a) A person operating authorized emergency vehicles, as defined
in Section 165.
(b) A person engaged in the operation of either special
construction equipment or equipment for use in the maintenance of any
highway.
(c) A person engaged in the operation of refuse collection
equipment who is wearing a safety headset or safety earplugs.
(d) A person wearing personal hearing protectors in the form of
earplugs or molds that are specifically designed to attenuate
injurious noise levels. The plugs or molds shall be designed in a
manner so as to not inhibit the wearer's ability to hear a siren or
horn from an emergency vehicle or a horn from another motor vehicle.
(e) A person using a prosthetic device that aids the hard of
hearing.