Man Fined For Using Apple Watch While Driving

It goes without saying that if you were to be driving, you would do well to concentrate a whole lot on the road ahead of you, which means that using a mobile device like a tablet or smartphone is strongly discouraged. In fact, in most places, doing so would be illegal, but what of smartwatches? After all, it is only a matter of time before the smartwatch makes its presence known in everyday life, but it has also resulted in a Canadian driver to be fined $120 by a passing cop, for the simple fact that he was using the Apple Watch while driving.

Jeffrey Macesin claimed that he was pulled over by Quebec police as he was skipping songs on his Apple Watch. The Apple Watch was no doubt hooked up to the iPhone, and the smartphone itself remained in his bag, but all of those circumstances failed to exempt him from a $120 fine due to violating section 439.1 of the Quebec Highway Safety Code.

That particular code did state that “no person may, while driving a road vehicle, use a handheld device that includes a telephone function”, and hence the great debate begins – even if the Apple Watch has the ability to make and receive calls as long as it remains hooked up to an iPhone, it cannot be classified as a handheld device. This is where Macesin intends to come from as he contests the $120 fine.