Warning - For Affected Canadian Drivers and iWatch (and iDevice) wearers and users

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'A cellphone taped to someone's wrist:' Woman looking at Apple Watch found guilty of distracted driving


http://nationalpost.com/news/canada...ple-iwatch-found-guilty-of-distracted-driving

A driver looking at an Apple Watch while stopped at a traffic light is still guilty of breaking Ontario’s distracted driving law, despite the trendy device’s new technology and her claim she was only checking the time.

Even with its miniaturization and trendy technology, an Apple Watch is no safer “than a cellphone taped to someone’s wrist,” said a justice of the peace, while convicting a Guelph woman this month of holding or using a hand-held wireless communication device while driving.

NOTE: A lot of other Canadian cities have similar laws.

PS: I'll be sure not to press the INDIGLO button on my Timex watch while driving at night!!! I might get fined for distracted driving eh!!





- Patrick
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chscag

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That's just absolutely ridiculous. I fully support giving someone a traffic violation for distracted driving - but looking down at one's watch whether it be an AW or a Rolex surely can't be considered distracted driving? What about when you glance in your side view mirrors for approaching traffic, is that considered distracted?

Where is the Canadian ACLU on this one? :p
 
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That's just absolutely ridiculous

Where is the Canadian ACLU on this one?


Yup, and I couldn't find a "Too stupid to Actually be True" forum to post it.

But one does have to wonder why she kept looking down at her iWatch. And that of course is a lot more dangerous than checking ones side or rear view mirrors as you say eh???

Or PS: What about glancing at one's built-in Nav system, but that's how they interpret the laws I guess.

Anyway, still a warning for fellow Canadian drivers who happen to read this, or any US drivers who may be driving in Canada and have and use an iDevice while driving. Not a good idea!!!




- Patrick
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I posted somewhere else that I can't drive either of my cars in Canada because the law includes banning the use of ANY graphic display and my cars only have digital graphic displays for instruments. It's a stupid law, stupidly written and way too wide in including just about any "screen" of any kind in any use in any vehicle. So Canada is now off my list of places to visit.
 
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I can't drive either of my cars in Canada because the law includes banning the use of ANY graphic display and my cars only have digital graphic displays for instruments.


I've wondered about that and I guess I'm offending the law when the engine warning light comes on and they can never find a valid reason.

Some of the laws are stupidly written and too many police officers are even stupider in the way they enforce them.

Heck an RCMP officer in Manitoba last month charged a fellow for obstructing his license plate with his professionally installed Thule bike rack, without any bikes yet.

Hard to give them much respect in such cases. :\




- Patrick
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And what's really galling about the particular incident is that the distraction did not in any way add to any danger. The cop was just ticked off that she didn't move, so he wrote a ticket. Would he have done that if she just sat there because she wanted to sit there? I suspect he just wanted to turn on his lights to get through the signal when she didn't move soon enough, then had to justify the lights by writing a ticket. And she ended up with a $400 fine because of a disgruntled campus cop.
 
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As someone who actually prosecutes the traffic laws in Ontario, lets clarify a few things. Each province has it's own Provincial Statutes which govern traffic, so you can't lump the entire country into one basket because of something from one province. "The law includes banning the use of ANY graphic display and my cars only have digital graphic displays for instruments" is not an accurate statement, at least not in Ontario so again, let's not paint the entire country with an inaccurate brush.
While I agree that the whole "don't look at your watch while driving" thing has taken it too far, it was not a case of the cop simply giving her a ticket because she didn't move, that is what drew the officer's attention to her.....traffic had started to move and she didn't because she was busy reading messages on her smart watch. Distracted? Yes.
WE should make sure we have the correct facts before we start bashing something, or somebody.
 

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Thanks for the clarification.
 
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@Reineyrooster, I'm not familiar with Canadian laws, but in the US, there are primary and secondary traffic offenses. Police only stop cars for primary offenses, but then can write additional citations for secondary offenses. For example, if you have your seat belt not in use, that is, in most locales, a secondary offense, so you won't be stopped for that. But if you are stopped for speeding, a primary offense, and then the policeman sees your seat belt is not in use, you can get a ticket for that as well as the speeding.

So, in the case of the young woman who didn't move when the light turned green, what was the primary offense? Does Canadian law require you to move when the light turns green? What if she was trying to sort out some problem with an unruly child in a car seat, would she have to abandon the child to move because the light was green?

I ask because if the primary offense was the watch use, then I stand where I originally posted, that there are cars that cannot be driven in Canada the way the law is written.
 
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Jake, I can only speak regarding traffic laws in the province of Ontario. We have no such designations as "primary" or "secondary" offenses. The ability to operate a motor vehicle on a highway has been deemed to be a privilege, not a right, therefore the police have the right to stop any motor vehicle being operated on the highway to ensure the driver is licenced. As I stated earlier, the women who didn't move with traffic in itself wasn't necessarily ( open to argument ) breaching any section of the traffic laws, it was the fact that she wasn't moving ahead when all the other traffic in front of her moved off that caught the officer's attention. Closer examination by the officer revealed that she was checking text messages on her watch that had that ability. Posing the hypothetical question as to a "what if" serves no purpose as that's clearly not what she was doing. Had the officer approached her after seeing her not moving with the traffic and found out that she was having issues with a child, I'm quite sure he would have simply had her pull to the side of the road to solve her issue rather then block traffic. I also wear a watch that has the ability to show me text and email messages however I choose not to look at the watch when it notifies me that I have rec'd a message. I would argue adamantly that the simple act of LOOKING at your watch ( as in to see what time it is, NOT scrolling through messages) is not a violation of any Ontario traffic laws.
 
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the women who didn't move with traffic in itself wasn't necessarily ( open to argument ) breaching any section of the traffic laws, it was the fact that she wasn't moving ahead when all the other traffic in front of her moved off that caught the officer's attention. Closer examination by the officer revealed that she was checking text messages on her watch that had that ability.


I'd guess some high-priced lawyers would love to challenge the fact that if she wasn't moving, then she wasn't driving at the time either.

But I often notice the local city cops waiting at traffic light controlled intersections like vultures waiting to pounce on some unsuspecting cellphone user who happens to take a glance at their cellphone or info watch and they get nailed.

Yet another driver fiddling with their builtin GPS/map unit is immune for some odd reason. Strange eh????

I would argue adamantly that the simple act of LOOKING at your watch [or cellphone]( as in to see what time it is, NOT scrolling through messages) is not a violation of any Ontario traffic laws.

Unfortunately that is not how many users have been treated by the local cops in this area. But it seems someone might have told them to cool it a bit as they seem to have eased off a bit from some of their rather questionable ethics.

But double unfortunate is the fact that often there is no cop around when some idiot is being a pure idiot with their cellphone, plus weaving in and out of traffic at twice the speed limit. That's really maddening.







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I would argue adamantly that the simple act of LOOKING at your watch ( as in to see what time it is, NOT scrolling through messages) is not a violation of any Ontario traffic laws.
This would be fun to test in court. I recently rented a car with a digital display and it was passing messages to me through the interface all the time--the screens cycled through time/distance to go, fuel status, fuel economy, engine status, environmental data, etc. Under the Canadian law, if I looked at the interface, which also showed the speedometer, I would be in violation of the law. And I suspect at night that there was the 'blue glow' exactly as on a smartphone, so a watching cop would think I was violating the law. Lawmakers often write laws that make no sense. (Frankly, the majority of laws make no sense.)
 
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This is getting silly.
First of all, as I clarified earlier, it is NOT a Canadian law, traffic laws are written by each individual province, much like your state laws. In referring to the ONTARIO law relating to the use of cell phones while operating a motor vehicle, here is the wording:78.1 (1) No person shall drive a motor vehicle on a highway while holding or using a hand-held wireless communication device or other prescribed device that is capable of receiving or transmitting telephone communications, electronic data, mail or text messages.
So.......in the example given above, you are NOT holding or using a device that fits within this section. The idea behind this law is to reduce the large number of serious and fatal collisions caused by idiots using the cell phones while driving and to get them to put the darn phones away. To imply that it would be against the law to look at your speedometer is nothing short of ridiculous.
 
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Motoring laws can be crazy. I have always preferred the idea of looking out of the windscreen rather than staring at my speedometer in case of speeding.


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Motoring laws can be crazy. I have always preferred the idea of looking out of the windscreen rather than staring at my speedometer in case of speeding.


Hmmm...??? I don't know how you tell how fast you were going by looking out your windscreen, especially when the speedometer gives an accurate speed-reading.

Maybe it might be better to have one of the dashboard Speedometer heads-up displays, that are sure easier to read while keeping your eyes on the road ahead.

But one would have to be careful that they are legal in their area, as the law states here you may not have anything on your dash to impede your vision of the road ahead. But I don't think such displays impede any of your vision, but the cops around here seem to think differently.

Odd that they seem to work well with the pilots who fly around this area in their CF-18s that cruise at about 700MPH. Just a wee bit faster than most cars, especially those stuck or close to in a traffic jam!!!

Maybe something like this would suit you:
d2330a4b341f40b3942458dc193b3405.jpg


- Patrick
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Great idea. Sadly not an option on my Ford Fiesta :)


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Great idea. Sadly not an option on my Ford Fiesta :)


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Maybe something like this is an option? Admittedly I'm out of my depth here. I found those after a cursory search because I knew I had seen something about this recently. Be wary though apparently some of the solutions which claim to be a HUD option merely mirror your phone's screen to the windshield.
 

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