CONTRA COSTA, Calif. — Apple's (AAPL) Siri may be a seductively smart companion. But let the new iPhone's voice-activated Gal Friday sit beside you as you drive up Highway 101 and you might get into trouble with the law.
Or maybe not.
Cops says you can talk to Siri while driving. Just don't touch her.
"It's legal to talk to Siri, as long as the phone's not in your hand,'' says San Jose police Lt. Chris Monahan. "But if you ask for directions and she puts them up on her screen for you to read, then California's vehicle code says you're breaking the law."
But in an example of the law being a few steps behind the technology it's trying to address, the bill's author says that because Siri is not "a person'' the law may not apply at all.
"I'm a legislator, not a judge or a law enforcement official,'' said State Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, who wrote the hands-free and texting laws enacted in 2008 and 2009. "But I don't see how asking Siri for driving instructions and then looking down at the text on the phone is any more of a violation of existing law than reading your GPS device. The law talks about communicating with any 'person.' And if there's one thing we know for sure, it's that Siri is not a person.''
Bottom line: if you do get ticketed playing with Siri while driving, it'll be up to the judge to decide whether you broke the law. Section 23123.5 of the motor-vehicle code clearly states that "a person shall not drive a motor vehicle while using an electronic wireless communication device to write, send, or read a text-based communication." This would seem to indicate that leaning over to read the directions would violate the law.
But then part B of that same section specifically states that it's illegal to do those things "to manually communicate with any person using a text-based communication.''
California Highway Patrol spokesman D.J. Sarabia says the problem with cell-phone legislation is that you can ask "ten of us in law enforcement and you'll get ten slightly different interpretations. But then it's one of those subjective things that in the end a judge will have to rule on.''
An Apple spokeswoman referred questions about Siri to the company website, adding that Siri can also be activated using a headset or Bluetooth device.
Siri is not the first talk-to-me service on a smartphone. But she's probably destined for fame because of her host, the incredibly popular iPhone 4S. And that fame will further complicate the already confusing legal landscape. State laws are all over the map when it comes to cell-phone use behind the wheel. Thirty-four states have banned texting while driving; nine others have made the use of handheld phones while driving illegal, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. While no state has outlawed all phone use in the car for adults, California and others has done so for drivers under the age of 18.
As is often the case with legislation trying to catch up with technology, Siri may be a bit ahead of her time. But Apple may have to make her even smarter so that she can speak driving directions instead of making the user read them, risking a ticket in the process.
State law, too, will eventually have to adapt to the burgeoning world of voice-activated smart-phones. Says Simitian, "as technology changes, the law has to keep pace.'' But he added that until he has more first-hand experience with how Siri operates, he's not planning to rejigger the law he wrote.
"The idea is that eyes on the road is the key to highway safety.''
And to be safe, says Sgt. Trent Cross with the California Highway Patrol, keep your mobile conversations with Siri to a minimum.
"You shouldn't be using Siri or playing with your lap dog or putting on makeup while you're driving," says Cross. "Lives are lost when people get distracted. That's why we highly discourage drivers from doing anything except driving while they're driving."
