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Using Apple iPhone 4S' Siri Illegal While Behind the Wheel?

People who were expecting a brand new iPhone 5 were naturally disappointed with ‘just’ the 4S, but the Siri personal assistant app somewhat made up for this. The software lets you schedule, call, send messages and generally interact with your phone that would seem like science fiction a couple of years ago.
As Siri offers key functions like looking up locations on Google Maps, or finding out what the weather is going to be like, drivers will have a natural tendency to use the personal assistant in their cars. But a recent report from Softpedia raises a very interesting question: is using Siri at the wheel legal?

According to California police, it’s OK to talk to Siri, but it’s not OK to use her. Confused? What we mean is that talking to the device does not require taking your eyes off the road and the hands off the steering wheel. However, activating Siri requires you to push the home button on your iPhone, which apparently is not legal while behind the wheel.

"It's legal to talk to Siri, as long as the phone's not in your hand. But if you have to push the phone to activate her, or if you ask for directions and she puts them up on her screen for you to read, then California's hands-free law says your're breaking the law," says San Jose police Lt. Chris Monahan, according to Mercury News.

Voice controlled GPS devices also require you to press a button and say what you want, so we don’t really understand their position on the matter.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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