Apple Watch user fined for checking device while driving

Judge says smartwatches are as much a
distraction as ‘a cellphone taped to someone’s wrist’

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Victoria Ambrose, a student from Ontario’s University of Guelph,
was spotted checking her smartwatch at a red light by a campus
police officer in April, says the BBC. 

The officer told a court that Ambrose was so focused on
her watch that she failed to move her vehicle when the traffic
lights turned green. She finally pulled forward when the officer
“shone a side light from the police cruiser at her car”, the
broadcaster reports.

Ambrose said that she had been using the smartphone merely to
check the time, which required her to double tap the device’s
screen, says Canadian news site National Post. She also argued that
because the watch was worn on her wrist, it was subject to an
exemption in Ontario law which covers devices that are “securely
mounted”.

However, judge Lloyd Phillipps rejected Ambrose’s argument
and charged her under Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act of 2009, which
prohibits drivers from holding or using wireless devices while
behind the wheel, the news site says. Ambrose was handed a CAD $400
(£230) fine.

“Checking one’s timepiece is normally done in a moment,
even if it had to be touched to be activated,” said
Phillipps. 

He added: “While attached to the defendant’s wrist, it is
no less a source of distraction than a cellphone taped to someone’s
wrist.”

According to Apple news site 9to5Mac, the company is working on a Do Not
Disturb feature that will stop notifications from appearing on the
smartwatch while the wearer is driving.

There’s no word yet on when it will be available, but more
details are expected to emerge during tonight’s World Wide
Developers Conference (WWDC) in California.