Ontario Judge Finds Woman Guilty of Distracted Driving for Looking at Apple Watch

[kdarling]

OK ... challenge on.

Name three car models (not just manufacturers) of cars that where produced and made available for public sale, mass produced and from the factory or show room made street legal ... in the last 90yrs that came without a clock (Analog or digital) that the driver can see (dashboard, tachometer or similar front steering wheel view) ?!

You must be fairly young if you think most cars came standard with a clock for that long a period.

They were usually an extra cost option until at least the mid 80s, when digital clocks became cheap to make, and could be included in some base models. Digital tuning radios began about then as well, and could double as a digital clock.

Heck, even if your car in the 20s-80s had a clock, often it was electric with flimsy gears, and stopped working soon after you took delivery

So I think it'd be safer to claim that most cars with a digital tuning radio for the past thirty years had at least the option of setting its clock display.

 

[truthertech]

I don't disagree with what you said, with the exception of your linking this behavior to electronic devices only. All of the empirical data indicate that it is distracted driving per se, not the specific form (e.g., looking at an electronic device, looking at a physical map, talking to someone in the car, etc.), that is the problem. However, most laws only deal with the current zeitgeist rather than the actual issue, distracted driving. That is the issue people have with this.

True. It's likely because there have always been a myriad of things that can distract you, but they tend to be much shorter in duration and less consuming of your attention, e.g., eating or reaching for the radio dial, versus reading a text message or trying to hit tiny buttons/scroll through a screen.

 

[jameskatt]

She was distracted driving. Period.

1) SHE WAS SO UNAWARE OF HER ENVIRONMENT, she did not realize a POLICE CAR WAS RIGHT BESIDE HER.

How either stupid or distracted can you be? How can you not be aware of the police around you?

As soon as you realize you are near a police car, you should look up and straight ahead with BOTH hands on the steering wheel. And if you are speeding, immediately slow down.

2) SHE FAILED TO MOVE WHEN THE GREEN LIGHT LIT.

More often, a drunk driver does this. But a distracted driver also does this.

A Canadian woman has been found guilty of distracted driving for looking at her Apple Watch, despite claims that she was just checking the time while waiting for a red light to change (via The National Post).

A judge in the Ontario Court of Justice ordered University of Guelph student Victoria Ambrose to pay a $400 fine, after determining that she had spent too much time staring at her smartwatch while being in control of a vehicle.

​

According to court documents, the woman was ticketed after a police officer noticed the glow from an electronic gadget coming from the woman's car, which was stationary beside his cruiser at a red light.

The officer reported that he saw the woman look up and down at the device four times in 20 seconds, and then fail to move forward when the light turned green. The officer then shone a light into her car and she began to drive. When he pulled her over, he realized that she had been looking at an Apple Watch.

In Ontario, it is illegal for drivers to talk, text, type, dial or email using hand-held cell phones and other hand-held communications and entertainment devices, such as smartphones, portable media players, GPS systems and laptops.

Previously, the province had not designated the Apple Watch or other smartwatches as being illegal to use while operating a motor vehicle. However, in judging Ambrose's case, Justice of the Peace Lloyd Phillipps rejected her argument that the Apple Watch being on her wrist satisfies an exemption for devices securely mounted inside the vehicle.
Safety tests carried out in the U.K. in 2015 concluded that using a smartwatch while driving is more dangerous than using a smartphone.

According to the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), a driver reading a message on an Apple Watch would take 2.52 seconds to react to an emergency maneuver, whereas a driver talking to another passenger reacts in 0.9 seconds.

Article Link: Ontario Judge Finds Woman Guilty of Distracted Driving for Looking at Apple Watch

 

[sirozha]

You can navigate off it no problem, but if you want to interact with it you have to pull over

Does it have to be mounted or can it be in my lap?
[doublepost=1528073073][/doublepost]

Then I suppose very taxi driver is breaking the law too! They constantly touch their displays for routes etc.

Or Uber and Lyft drivers.
[doublepost=1528073152][/doublepost]

She was distracted driving. Period.

1) SHE WAS SO UNAWARE OF HER ENVIRONMENT, she did not realize a POLICE CAR WAS RIGHT BESIDE HER.

How either stupid or distracted can you be? How can you not be aware of the police around you?

As soon as you realize you are near a police car, you should look up and straight ahead with BOTH hands on the steering wheel. And if you are speeding, immediately slow down.

2) SHE FAILED TO MOVE WHEN THE GREEN LIGHT LIT.

More often, a drunk driver does this. But a distracted driver also does this.

Yes. Every time I see a cop, I freeze, drop on my knees, and beg for forgiveness. Works every time.

 

[Sefstah]

What?! No political warning?! People with less than 100 comments can post?! You messed up big time MacRumors. Watch all the ruckus unfold now. Or you know, nothing might happen either. Just like every other forum on the internet.
[doublepost=1528073967][/doublepost]

She was distracted driving. Period.

1) SHE WAS SO UNAWARE OF HER ENVIRONMENT, she did not realize a POLICE CAR WAS RIGHT BESIDE HER.

How either stupid or distracted can you be? How can you not be aware of the police around you?

As soon as you realize you are near a police car, you should look up and straight ahead with BOTH hands on the steering wheel. And if you are speeding, immediately slow down.

2) SHE FAILED TO MOVE WHEN THE GREEN LIGHT LIT.

More often, a drunk driver does this. But a distracted driver also does this.

Except she wasn’t driving.

 

[antiprotest]

The officer reported that he saw the woman look up and down at the device four times in 20 seconds, and then fail to move forward when the light turned green.

The officer should also be ticketed for distracted driving. He looked at her far longer and/or frequently than she checked her watch, and since he noticed that she failed to move forward when the light turned green, supposedly he must have also failed to move forward.

I am half joking. I assume he is exempt while on duty? But it remains that he also would have been distracted and a hazard even if he was exempt.

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

Well, I don't like people playing with their damn smart phones while behind the wheel (meaning texts, etc.) and it's questionable whether SOME people can hold a phone and talk while driving (or even hands free for some), but I do take exception to the idea of not being able to adjust a GPS, etc. while SITTING STILL at a red light as long as you're checking on the light. I mean you're not moving through an intersection. You might annoy the guy behind you and he might come up and pummel you for making him late for work, but that's only putting YOU in danger, not the other drivers.

In other words, "distracted driving" should involve DRIVING. It's like the police giving you a DUI for sitting in your car in a parking lot with the engine off while drunk waiting for the alcohol stupor to wear off. Apparently, you might as well just go ahead and DRIVE drunk since to them there's apparently NO DIFFERENCE WHATSOEVER.

 

[Geardo_Ranger]

I see this as either 2 issues.

Either we don’t know the whole story and the driver was interacting with the watch constantly while not paying attention or the cop may be one of those tech haters who looks for any excuse to yell at you to get off your phone even when walking down the street.

 

[RayBrown]

Just get high. And f**k it with phones in the car. Enjoy the ride. Relax.

 

[Fender2112]

What if they’re lost and don’t want to do something silly so they’re checking their map before they go through the junction? It happens. I’m a new driver and I do it sometimes. Takes a while to get used to the delay in GPS nav systems. I’d rather someone in front checked their map before they move off rather than swerve into me as I pass.

If the light is green, you need to be moving. If you're lost, pull over somewhere and check your GPS. There really is no excuse for not paying attention to traffic.

 

[bopajuice]

A person could remain stopped when a light turns green for a variety of reasons. That said, they cannot hit something or someone else if they are stopped. In your example, the only person at fault is the person who initiated the contact. By your logic, a car that is pulled-over on the side of the road is "dangerous for everyone" because someone who is actually driving could hit them.

Regardless, the main point of this is that in this situation, the person was given a ticket because of the current zeitgeist (using an electronic device) rather than the more serious, process-level issue of distracted driving. All of the empirical data indicate it is the distraction per se, not the specific form of distraction, that is the issue. However, our laws don't reflect that and some people find that problematic.

I see I am not going to get very far here.

So, because of the current zeitgeist related to electronics there are people doing dangerous things on the road. Many times they are oblivious to the situation.

A car on the side of the road is not directly blocking traffic. That is obvious, and a poor example. A vehicle sitting still at an intersection is blocking the road and is a danger to others as well as themselves. Even if for a short time.

Not sure why you are choosing to argue about something so fundamental. Review all the empirical data you want. Not paying attention while driving can cause accidents intentional or not.

If you want to discuss the nuances of current law related to distracted driving, I just don't have a desire to split hairs over the issue. Not that important. People will continue to use their phones, watches, electric shavers, eat a cheeseburger, or whatever. Accidents will continue to happen. Because some don't think the cop should have ticketed the driver over a watch doesn't make the distraction any less dangerous.

 

[Hater]

Defensive driving can also be a form of aggressive driving.

Lol what?

 

[Dustonfoster]

This is huge problem in Ontario... Officers have a zero tolerance against this and they have every right. I wonder how many of you would be mad hearing about some Canadians getting a hefty ticket using their device while in a drive thru.

 

[DeepIn2U]

You must be fairly young if you think most cars came standard with a clock for that long a period.

They were usually an extra cost option until at least the mid 80s, when digital clocks became cheap to make, and could be included in some base models. Digital tuning radios began about then as well, and could double as a digital clock.

Heck, even if your car in the 20s-80s had a clock, often it was electric with flimsy gears, and stopped working soon after you took delivery

So I think it'd be safer to claim that most cars with a digital tuning radio for the past thirty years had at least the option of setting its clock display.

I’m 45yrs old. Clocks are standard for over 30yrs - heck a 3rd generation RX7 came with one standard, every gem corvette did as well, Mazda 6, Ford Mustangs do - maybe 1990-95 box models may not have unless it was in the instrument cluster.

Yet I still find it odd you cannot backup your original claim vs trying to claim I’m young when I challenged you to some 90yrs of cars. Where is your exact answer to prove me wrong? I await your factual 3 car model example.
[doublepost=1528083809][/doublepost]

This is huge problem in Ontario... Officers have a zero tolerance against this and they have every right. I wonder how many of you would be mad hearing about some Canadians getting a hefty ticket using their device while in a drive thru.

As silly as using a phone or Apple Watch in a drive through sounds ... lookup pictures on google for Tim Hortons at OConnor & Victoria Park ave. You’ll see one entrance is right at the drive through pickup and if not paid attention a driver can easily hit a pedestrian entering or exiting Tim Hortons at that location. Stupid design I agree but you’ll see.

 

[jybrick]

She was stopped at a traffic light, not traveling down a highway!

And why was there a delay in her moving on the green? Because you have to hide your phone down low and keep it out of sight even if your car is not moving.

Allow people to use their phones as long as they are stopped at a traffic light. But put them down before they move.

 

[B4U]

There’s no need to use a smart watch or phone while driving.

The time is on your dashboard. Your phone calls and messages can wait for the length of the journey. Notifications won’t suddenly disappear.

I think it’s selfish that drivers are willing to put others at risk just to keep ‘check’ on their social lives, when for many of these messages/apps, the only way to respond appropriately is to use a phone in the first place.

I for one checked my watch occasionally while driving.
But it is strictly for looking at the time. Being an Apple watch does not make it any different than looking at my G-Shock to check the time instead. Reason behind looking at the watch instead of the clock inside a vehicle is that my job is to test vehicles and with all kind of clocks inside various locations, my watch is consistently located at where I know for sure.
In addition, not all cars have a clock display on the dashboard, my personal vehicle is a perfect example due to the aftermarket radio head unit.

 

[mgauss7]

A Canadian woman has been found guilty of distracted driving for looking at her Apple Watch, despite claims that she was just checking the time while waiting for a red light to change (via The National Post).

A judge in the Ontario Court of Justice ordered University of Guelph student Victoria Ambrose to pay a $400 fine, after determining that she had spent too much time staring at her smartwatch while being in control of a vehicle.

According to court documents, the woman was ticketed after a police officer noticed the glow from an electronic gadget coming from the woman's car, which was stationary beside his cruiser at a red light.

The officer reported that he saw the woman look up and down at the device four times in 20 seconds, and then fail to move forward when the light turned green. The officer then shone a light into her car and she began to drive. When he pulled her over, he realized that she had been looking at an Apple Watch.

In Ontario, it is illegal for drivers to talk, text, type, dial or email using hand-held cell phones and other hand-held communications and entertainment devices, such as smartphones, portable media players, GPS systems and laptops.

Previously, the province had not designated the Apple Watch or other smartwatches as being illegal to use while operating a motor vehicle. However, in judging Ambrose's case, Justice of the Peace Lloyd Phillipps rejected her argument that the Apple Watch being on her wrist satisfies an exemption for devices securely mounted inside the vehicle.
Safety tests carried out in the U.K. in 2015 concluded that using a smartwatch while driving is more dangerous than using a smartphone.

According to the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), a driver reading a message on an Apple Watch would take 2.52 seconds to react to an emergency maneuver, whereas a driver talking to another passenger reacts in 0.9 seconds.

Article Link: Ontario Judge Finds Woman Guilty of Distracted Driving for Looking at Apple Watch

What about CarPlay? Now the dash is a computer. Can you touch your dash? Turn your radio on? Off? GPS? Song choice? What's the difference? Should cars become dumb if they are moving?

 

[duervo]

I don’t buy their excuse of checking the time. “Checking the time” at four points during a red light? Not buying it at all.

Maybe they were late and were anxious so they checked the time frequently? Apparently not so late that they missed the fact that two cars in front of them had left the intersection already before the cop pointed the light in their direction. Again ... not buying the excuse at all.

Anybody “in a hurry” would have kept right on the rear of that second car the exact moment that the light turned green and traffic started to move ... Been stuck right to its rear end.

I’ve seen more than my share of MVAs in my past, and have heard about even more. Lots from drunk driving and lots from people just not paying attention. The most recent in memory was one where a young lady was looking at her phone and smacked right into the rear end of a construction pick-up truck. It had yellow lights flashing, stripey cones placed on the roadway, and a worker putting something into the back of the truck. The worker got crushed between the car and the rear of the pick-up. Needless to say, the worker died from their injuries.

The spirit of these fines is to act as a deterrent in order to prevent serious MVAs from happening as a result. For those that disregard and do it anyway, pay the fine, and if you feel you shouldn’t have to, then do everybody a favour and just stay off the road. Take the bus or something instead.

... and remember ... driving is a privilege, not a right.

 

[fairuz]

There’s no need to use a smart watch or phone while driving.

The time is on your dashboard. Your phone calls and messages can wait for the length of the journey. Notifications won’t suddenly disappear.

I think it’s selfish that drivers are willing to put others at risk just to keep ‘check’ on their social lives, when for many of these messages/apps, the only way to respond appropriately is to use a phone in the first place.

To be fair, the car's clock is often not trustworthy, especially the older ones.
[doublepost=1528097288][/doublepost]

What about CarPlay? Now the dash is a computer. Can you touch your dash? Turn your radio on? Off? GPS? Song choice? What's the difference? Should cars become dumb if they are moving?

Well CarPlay sucks because it does distract you, same with many computerized dash systems. A well-designed music system only requires mindlessly pressing buttons without moving your hands, maybe briefly looking down to press easy-to-find buttons at a red light. Honda's basic dash does that well, but CarPlay and others don't.
[doublepost=1528100236][/doublepost]

OK ... challenge on.

Name three car models (not just manufacturers) of cars that where produced and made available for public sale, mass produced and from the factory or show room made street legal ... in the last 90yrs that came without a clock (Analog or digital) that the driver can see (dashboard, tachometer or similar front steering wheel view) ?!

PS: In other words the McLaren F1 didn't come with a clock and at 1 Million was not made street legal at the factory it had to be made that way upon order for the country you lived in (outside of UK, USA, Canada, and France).

My 2005 Ford Crown Vic had a clock, but since it didn't auto-adjust for stupid Daylight Savings, I never knew whether it was correct and had to check something else anyway. I couldn't remember which clocks I had already adjusted for it (watch is different cause I always wear it and can trust I didn't forget). Most car clocks that I know of have the same problem.

That and it goes wrong if the battery dies. Or some cars are just stupid and forget the time randomly.
[doublepost=1528100736][/doublepost]

I say stay the crap out of my car. If I'm swirving - ticket me. If I'm speeding - ticket me. If I'm looking at my watch at a RED light and I don't go immediately - that's NO WHERE CLOSE to a ticket. No how, no way.

Sitting 20 seconds at a green light isn't "not going immediately." That requires zoning out pretty badly. By the time the driver moved, the light was probably almost red.

 

[campyguy]

OK ... challenge on.

Name three car models (not just manufacturers) of cars that where produced and made available for public sale, mass produced and from the factory or show room made street legal ... in the last 90yrs that came without a clock (Analog or digital) that the driver can see (dashboard, tachometer or similar front steering wheel view) ?!

You must be fairly young if you think most cars came standard with a clock for that long a period.

They were usually an extra cost option until at least the mid 80s, when digital clocks became cheap to make, and could be included in some base models. Digital tuning radios began about then as well, and could double as a digital clock.

I’m 45yrs old. Clocks are standard for over 30yrs - heck a 3rd generation RX7 came with one standard, every gem corvette did as well, Mazda 6, Ford Mustangs do - maybe 1990-95 box models may not have unless it was in the instrument cluster.

Yet I still find it odd you cannot backup your original claim vs trying to claim I’m young when I challenged you to some 90yrs of cars. Where is your exact answer to prove me wrong? I await your factual 3 car model example.

I'll take up that challenge, I'm older...

The rig that I got my driver's license in, a 1977 Chevrolet C10 pickup - 4.3L straight 6 cylinder, 3 speed manual with a granny gear, LWB, single cab. My mom bought it new in late 1976, it's still on the road, owned by a local contractor - she sold it just a couple of years ago when she turned 78 and couldn't drive a stick any more, it's running just fine despite a leak in the tranny if you park it with the front end a bit uphill. My second car, a Datsun B110 coupe - known as the 1200 here in the US and as the Nissan Sunny pretty much everywhere else; 3 of my friends owned 2-door sedan versions of the B110, I preferred the coupe version and raced it with plenty of success. And, one of my favorite cars of all time, the Datsun PL510, known as the Bluebird elsewhere - I owned 5 of these, racing 3 of them with competition kit directly from the Datsun Competition catalog (rounded competition fender flares, dual Mikuni-Solex carbs, hot cam, forged pistons, machined head, custom SS header and exhaust, full Quickor suspension with a modified rear suspension crossmember to allot for the negative camber due to the lower height from the shorter springs...). I could swap a set of 4 coil springs in my 510 and have the alignment done in under 30 minutes, with just hand tools and a custom jig - and be back on the track in just a few minutes. With my 510 sedans, I toasted every single 2002 and 320i and Alfa in competition until I gave up autocrossing - I never placed lower than 1st.

No room in the dash for a clock in those vehicles, I'd rather have a tach anyways...

None of those 3 vehicles came with clocks, not even an option in the US but maybe elsewhere. They were all purchased new here in the US. I am aware that some vehicles in Canada have different options in The Great White North - for instance, the PL510 in Canada shipped with a rear-window defroster (plus a higher-amperage alternator) while in the US we couldn't even get that option; I swapped my alternators in my 510s with the unit that shipped with the 240Z - same bolt pattern, twice the running amps (55 vs 110). I've owned other vehicles that didn't have a clock, those are just 3 which is what you were challenging about?

 

[Moni1928]

It didn’t say there was anyone behind her and they didn’t prove she was on her watch doing anything, WHILE SITTING STILL at a stop light. I could see if she was doing something like this, being distracted while she was driving but she was at a traffic light, being responsible. I don’t know one person who hasn’t answered or checked a message while at a stoplight. I have it setup through my radio system/handsfree but still. That’s another thing, on ever newer vehicle, from what, 2006!?! probably older than that and on, they all have a navigation system, a lit up monitor for their radio, Navi, dvd, god knows what else!?! I think it was a bogus ticket. Until they can prove differently, that she was texting, which is pretty impossible, or doing something else other than checking the time, void the ticket!!!

 

[sir1963nz]

WTF, so I guess the next thing to be banned because it's distracting for drivers are billboards.

 

[Tonewheel]

Wow. The apologists are out in force today!

 

[Hater]

Don't use it, simple as that, it's pretty clear cut

Watching traffic and people is far more entertaining than the ******** on your phone anyway, admit it. You're glued to it 16 hours a day already, when you're driving why don't you take a little time out to actually drive? Might save yours or someone else life y'know.

Catch a cab or a bus if you really are that boring.

 

[manu chao]

No but I bet it is in most parts, because you are still technically on the road in traffic, you are not pulled over.

So, all the cupholders in cars are only to be used to transport cups between situations when you are not on the road? How about something like a Camelbak?