German trucker uses mobile as "ear warmer," court believes it
By Darren Murph 
posted Mar 18th 2008 11:01AM
posted Mar 18th 2008 11:01AM
Oh sure, we've seen alleged criminals wriggle out from under the strong arm of the law, but this one takes things to an entirely different platform. Reportedly, a truck driver in Germany was pulled over for yapping on his cellphone while cruising, but apparently, said trucker actually wasn't talking when the boys in blue saw his handset upside his melon. As the story goes, the 43-year old was actually using the freshly recharged mobile to "warm his ear" in an attempt to alleviate an earache. Astonishingly enough, he was even able to provide "an itemized telephone bill proving he had not been using the phone at the time he was stopped," thus, a court in Hamm accepted the excuse and let him go sans penalty. Something tells us this guy's got friends in low places.[Via Switched]
I actually have no idea what I can say to that. It's just too... rediculous.
Thats awesome. Plausible too. If he wasn't talking to anyone when the officer walked up to him, and the bill supports that, then he must not have been talking.
It's even easier than that: an itemised bill shows you the calls that you were *charged for* and the last time I checked, you don't get charged for *incoming* calls!
"It's even easier than that: an itemised bill shows you the calls that you were *charged for* and the last time I checked, you don't get charged for *incoming* calls!"
You do with most European carriers...
sheldon: My itemized bill shows ALL calls, texts, internet usage, etc.
I'm not sure you're right about incoming calls not showing up. (Besides, I don't think incoming calls are free...)
what world do you live in that you dont get charged for incoming calls?
@ Jeff and @ Miles Ross
Here in the UK, Germany, and the rest of Europe (or at least most of Europe) we don't get charged for incoming calls; just outgoing calls, texts, data and retrieving voicemail.
@ 'Y'
This is madness!
No, THIS! IS! SPARTA!
*Kicks guy down a seemingly bottomless pit*
PS, I wish you could reply to replies.
I don't get it, why would someone have to pay to receive a call? Hell, even the evil telcos here in Australia don't do that!
@monkfishbandana
I can say in France there is no charge for incoming calls.
Isn't it just ridiculous to be charged for an incoming call ?
a hundred yaers ago people would actually have to pay to recieve a letter.
"You do with most European carriers..."
@Maurice: Could you mention some of those (many) European carriers that charge for incoming calls?
WTF! European carriers **DO NOT** charge for incoming calls at all. Seriously, stop making stuff up just to make a comment.
AFAIK it's in the USA that both sides seem to get charged, which is a freaking joke. Wasn't there all that fuss over iphone not using double charging - which is the norm in the US?
He still didn't have his hands available for driving regardless.
obvious this guy has 2 cell phones
I agree.
I was thinking the exact same thing. He probably has a work cell phone (more than likely in his trucking companies name) and a personal cell phone.
Joke flew right over your head, didn't it SilverGixxer? :)
The joke went in one ear and out the other.....
(Sorry, I had to)
that's what i was thinking.
(...what joke flew over who's head?)
Ugh, must I explain? He has two phones to warm both ears, get it?
God people are slow.
@ Dubb:
Actually Dubb, I don't think that "joke" is what Trafficblows had in mind; having two phones would explain why the trucker was able to produce a call list that didn't have him on the phone at that particular time. Regardless, it's certainly not clear enough to get magnanimous about...
thanks for clearing things up JakeLL!! i don't even get the "joke" that i apparently made... 2 ears, 2 phones, huh?
Its not really that far-fetched.
How many minutes/seconds does "at the time the officer walked up" before the officer actually talking to the guy does this include?
Like officer sees me talking at 10:50am pulls me over and gets to my car at like 10:51:30. I hang up at 10:50 as soon as the guy pulls me over. Since he got to my car at 10:51:30 and i can prove that the phone was not in use at that time does that count as using it as an ear warmer?
I'm to lazy to click the read link, someone tell me if that's what happened.
Doesn't Matter if you have Unlimited Minutes.
Depends what tolling option he had - maybe he had the 60/1 option, where you pay for the first minute, and then get billed by the second thereafter. I was on such a plan (then switched to 10/10 because it worked out cheaper - don't make long calls) and my calls were itemised down to the second.
I don't think german cops are officers.
"friends in low places"... I like that one. It will prove useful.
thank Garth Brooks :p
well, actually for germany that still would be the "guys in green", just some states switched to blue uniform
It's a good thing for this guy that my wife isn't a German judge. She didn't buy it that I was simply using my hand as a crotch warmer.
Don't you mean.."Boy in Green"? German cops wear green uniforms.
In the UK, even if it was just an ear warmer, you'd STILL get a £60 fine and 3 points on your license. A woman once got fined just for eating an apple whilst driving, this country is crazy I tell ye'!
The arresting officers clearly must have been Microsoft fan boys ;}
or perhaps, er.. SHE SHOULD HAVE BEEN BLOODY DRIVING. eating an apply while driving. Maybe when she's get caught in a pile up because she wasn't paying attention/couldn't get to the gear stick in time (if it's a manual) she might realise she shouldn't have been doing it, but then someone else has to suffer for her stupidity.
Saw a truck driver (who looked quite old) driving around a bend while eating a bag of chips from a chippy, looking the wrong way as he took a turn. surprised he never killed anyone. crazy indeed
Back on topic, yeah 2 phones, or an incoming call. The court took his bill as evidence rather than the phone companies incoming/outgoing records?
robots don't say "ye"
Perhaps eating an apple raised her bloodsugar level and thus made her more alert and able to prevent accidents.
Here in the Czech Republic he'd be busted anyway. You don't actually have to be talking, it's enough just to hold a phone or a "talking device" in your hand and you can be charged with not paying appropriate attention to driving. It mostly used as a precaution against people texting while driving and I say it's a good thing.
Umm, I don't know about you guys, but my cell phone doesn't get warm unless I'm using it. I'm holding it in my hand right now and i can't feel any heat.
the article said "freshly charged"
many cell phones' battery get warm during sustained charging
That's true, but it wouldn't have stayed warm for very long. But I suppose it would still work.
New Zealand, England, Australia. No where that I have ever owned a phone has ever charged me for incoming calls.
"I was just using her mouth as a penis warmer."
Nice, I will have to remember that.
o_O? all these "cant use this cant use that" laws are for idiotic drivers that cant drive to begin with.. but for some reason i have to suffer because some dyslexic moron has bad hand eye coordination... its not the action of holding the phone up to your ear that messes up your senses its the action of thinking about what to say... so if you have a friend in the car and having an interesting conversation, its just as bad as talking on the phone.. (the last statement obviously refers to people with automatic cars)
This is as believable as the man who used cocaine to relieve his toothache:
http://www.tamesideadvertiser.co.uk/news/s/1037445_man_used_cocaine_for_wisdom_tooth_pain
Well, cocaine is a analgesic drug. Analgesic drugs such as lidokain, xylokain are derivates of the coca plant too. The only difference is that cocaine is illegal.
*an analgesic drug
Ear warmer? More like brain warmer.
They would've dropped the taze-hammer on him here before sending his lying ass to jail.
"Zun't taze me bro!"
This whas in my local newspaper today, and the article states the following:
"Wer sein Handy als Ohr-Wärmer bei plötzlich auftretenden Ohrenschmerzen nutze, begehe keinen Verstoß gegen die Straßenverkehrsordnung, entschied das Oberlandesgericht (2 Ss OWi 606/07). Einem Fernfahrer, der mit dieser Ausrede bis vor das Oberlandesgericht gezogen war, nutzte der Hinweis dennoch nichts, denn das Gericht glaubte ihm kein Wort."
Which means its no offense to use the mobile as an ear warmer, BUT the court didn't buy the story at all. The trucker lost the trial.
http://www.wz-newsline.de/?redid=164307&ID=746479
I've thought for a long time that if talking on my cell is outlawed in my state that I would just drive around all day with my phone powered off and held up to my ear. Let them pull me over, I'll just produce my itemized bill showing I wasn't talking.
Let the games begin!
Good to see that there are still honorable judges. It's fucking stupid to pull someone over for talking on their cellphone. THERE IS NO VICTIM
sure, there's no victim... until you careen into a car with a mother driving her kids home from school because you weren't paying attention to the road, and didn't have 2 hands free to control the car properly.
but yeah, no victims.
Again a stupid story ... blogger copying from some tabloid without mentioning the source, and of course tabloid didn't mention a source. This is what i call real bad journalism.
Never believe a rumour about court case without reference number to the case.
@Asgar: Thanks for setting this right :)
Well ... This is truely an usual case ... Don't you know guys that in China, you are charged for incoming calls ? I live in Tokyo and I heard it's the same here when you're at Softbank, but as someone said, you have to read the contract before ... But in China, everybody pays for incoming calls (at least phone calls, I dont know about text)
I hear nothinkgk! NOTHINGK!