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Are you wondering whether or not you`re allowed to use your Apple Watch while driving? If you live in Canada, then you should be aware that the police does not tolerate the usage of a smart watch behind the wheel and if you choose to do it anyway, you might just earn yourself a $120 ticket.
This story happened to Jeffrey Macesin, a Canadian driver, who was heading towards Highway 20 and was changing the music in his car by using his Apple Watch, when he was signaled by a police car to pull over.
Macesin said that, at first, he had no idea why the cop car was signaling him to pull over and thought that they just wanted to get him out of the way, but when the police officers fined him with $120 ticket and 4 points of his driving license, he understood that tapping his smart watch, while driving is a serious infraction.
The driver does think it`s fair that he got a ticket for using his smart watch, after all, he had one hand on the steering wheel and he says that he knows that using smartphones while driving is prohibited by the law, but he had no idea that the same rules apply to smart watches.
The police officer that gave him the ticket said that he did so according to the 439.1 Section of Quebec Highway Safety Code, but legal experts argue that the code refers to hand held devices that are being used while behind the wheel. However, the Apple Watch is not a hand held device and functions on Bluetooth and this is permitted in the Highway Safety Code.
Lawyers also seem to believe that this case is only the first in many, as there are currently no exact regulations to tackle the matter of using a smart watch while driving.
Jeffrey Macesin himself, has said that he plans on hiring a lawyer and getting that ticked annulled. Still, if his efforts will be successful remains to be seen, authorities defend this law by saying that it refers to all devices that could distract the driver`s attention from the road.
In an effort to reduce the number of casualties produced by car crashes, the 439.1 section of the Highway Safety Code is reinforced harshly by police officers and although changing a song on you Apple Watch should not require that much attention from the driver, it could still be dangerous in certain situations.
Image Source: montrealctvnews
