Quebec police call Apple Watch 'hand-held phone', ticket man for changing music while driving

Quebec police call Apple Watch 'hand-held phone', ticket man for changing music while driving

<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p><a href='http://www.imore.com/quebec-police-call-apple-watch-hand-held-phone-ticket-man-changing-music-while-driving' title="Quebec police call Apple Watch 'hand-held phone', ticket man for changing music while driving"><img src='http://www.imore.com/sites/imore.com/files/styles/large_wm_blw/public/field/image/2015/05/apple-watch-driving-directions-hero.jpg?itok=-pzsIuq8' />[/url]</p> <p class="intro">We've recently passed new legislation here in Quebec that makes it a ticketable offense to use an iPhone, or any handheld phone, while driving.</p> <p>You can't even pull over and use one. You have to be parked in a legitimate space. The problem here, though, is that the Apple watch isn't a handheld phone. Technology is once again misaligned with the law.  CTV News:</p>

<p>The self-described gadget lover said he thought he was permitted to watch his new Apple Watch while driving, so long as he wasn't tapping away on his smartphone.</p> <p>"I have it in the bag charging while the auxiliary cable is plugged into the radio and this controls my phone to play the music. So I was changing songs with my hand on the steering wheel," said Macesin, who was leaving Pincourt heading to Highway 20.</p> <p>"Going towards Vaudreuil, there was a cop car behind me and he didn't have his lights on yet, but then he turned them on and I thought maybe he just wanted me to get out of the way. I was just confused," he said.</p> <p>Macesin was pulled over and slapped with the ticket under Section 439.1 of the Quebec Highway Safety Code that reads:</p> <p>"No person may, while driving a road vehicle, use a hand-held device that includes a telephone function." Macesin argues that technically he wasn't using or holding a phone.</p>

<p>I'm obviously not a lawyer, but here's my long-standing problem with Quebec and some other jurisdictions — we make traffic laws covering objects rather than behavior.</p> <p>An Apple Watch is a peripheral, in some ways no different than a Bluetooth speakerphone. What's more, it has functions like navigation that have nothing to do with telephony. Moreover, when I used to commute to work and back every day, I routinely saw people eating, reading, putting on make up and doing hair, and otherwise engaging in all sorts of reckless behavior behind the wheel.</p> <p>Imagine if we handled assault this way. "You can't hit someone with a baseball bat." "I hit them with a rolling pin." "Oh, well... um..." We, rightly, say, "You can't hit someone!"</p> <p>A distracted driving law, one that covers the behavior rather than the object, would make more sense to me. That way, if someone has a newspaper open on the steering wheel, the police could ticket them. If someone else is simply saying "Hey Siri, play Arcade Fire" the police could leave them be.</p> <p>The driver in this case is contesting the ticket. I don't blame him. Not because I support distracted driving, but because I support making distracted driving the prohibition. If someone is using an Apple Watch in a way that distracts them, ticket some sense into them. If they're using an Apple Watch in a way that's the same as perfectly legal hands-free calling, navigation, or infotainment centers, then don't.</p> <p>What do you think?</p> </div></div></div><img width='1' height='1' src='