# DVD-watching driver to be charged with murder **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 27, 2004, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-watching-driver-to-be-charged-with-murder/257080 "2004-07-27T12:54:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-watching-driver-to-be-charged-with-murder/257080/1 "2004-07-27T12:54:26Z")
In other bad driver news, a man was watching his dash-mounted DVD player when he crossed the double yellow line and hit a Jeep head on, killing two people. No link on the KIRO 7 news site yet. I’ve talked about **Left Seat Passengers** before; people who are not “driving” their vehicles, but are merely passengers who happen to have a steering wheel in front of them. They take more interest in their phone conversations, eating, chatting with the right-seat passengers, playing with the stereo, putting on make-up, shaving, and even reading the newspaper. But this guy takes the biscuit. Dude, there’s a _reason_ why it’s illegal to have a television in the front seats! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-watching-driver-to-be-charged-with-murder/257080/2 "2004-07-27T13:07:26Z")
[Found the link](http://www.kirotv.com/news/3581494/detail.html). The collision occured last October, and the trial is starting. > [@](#): > > The pickup’s driver, Erwin J. Petterson Jr., denies using the DVD player as he drove north on Oct. 12, 2002 and contends he was only listening to music from a compact disc, said his attorney, Chuck Robinson. But… > [@](#): > > [The driver]called his ex-wife and told her he was not sure how the collision occurred because he was “spacing out on a movie they were watching,” according to prosecutors. The article says that Alaska has no law that prohibits operating a DVD player in view of a driver. In the OP I had assumed it was illegal. The movie, apparently, was _Road Trip_. ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-watching-driver-to-be-charged-with-murder/257080/3 "2004-07-27T13:10:21Z")
…and yet you can buy a dash-mounted DVD player with a little fold-out LCD screen at Best Buy. Why the hell are these things legal? What loophole do they fall through - it’s not as if only the passenger seat can see the damn thing. ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-watching-driver-to-be-charged-with-murder/257080/4 "2004-07-27T13:22:46Z")
OK, so maybe it’s not illegal…but it’s stupid. And my question remains - why the hell are these things legal? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-watching-driver-to-be-charged-with-murder/257080/5 "2004-07-27T13:32:34Z")
> [@](#): > > OK, so maybe it’s not illegal…but it’s stupid. And my question remains - why the hell are these things legal Check your state laws. In New Jersey I know it is illegal for a tv to be visible to the driver. This was on the books even before the portable DVD players came out. Many states have similar laws. You can only watch if you are in the backseat.