Apple CEO Tim Cook introduces the Apple Watch.
Toronto:
It is against the law to use a smartphone behind the wheel in most countries but what about a smartwatch?
A man in Canada learned the hard way that police will not tolerate those as he was fined 120 Canadian dollars and given four demerit points in Quebec for using his Apple smartwatch.
Jeffrey Macesin from Pincourt said he was shocked when he was pulled over because he did not think he was breaking the law.
The self-described gadget lover said he thought he was permitted to watch his new Apple Watch while driving, so long as he was not tapping away on his smartphone.
"I have it in the bag charging while the auxiliary cable is plugged in to the radio and this controls my phone to play the music. So I was changing songs with my hand on the steering wheel," Macesin was quoted as saying by CTV News Montreal.
"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.
Macesin was pulled over and slapped with the fine under a section of the Quebec Highway Safety Code that reads: "No person may, while driving a road vehicle, use a hand-held device that includes a telephone function."
Macesin argued that technically he was not using or holding a phone.
"It's not so much handheld. It's a watch. You know, it's on my wrist. That's where it gets controversial. It's like, 'Is it? Is it not?' but I think this needs to be talked about," he said.
Lawyer Avi Levy, who specialises in fighting cases involving traffic violations, said, "I knew it was just a question of time before we got a case like this, but it definitely won't be the last."
"I'm not convinced that the Apple Watch itself is a phone. It's rather a Bluetooth device that communicates a telephone signal from the phone and it has been established in the law that you're allowed to use Bluetooth devices and it doesn't constitute an infraction," he said.
Macesin is contesting his ticket and is considering hiring a lawyer to represent him in the case, the report said.
A man in Canada learned the hard way that police will not tolerate those as he was fined 120 Canadian dollars and given four demerit points in Quebec for using his Apple smartwatch.
Jeffrey Macesin from Pincourt said he was shocked when he was pulled over because he did not think he was breaking the law.
The self-described gadget lover said he thought he was permitted to watch his new Apple Watch while driving, so long as he was not tapping away on his smartphone.
"I have it in the bag charging while the auxiliary cable is plugged in to the radio and this controls my phone to play the music. So I was changing songs with my hand on the steering wheel," Macesin was quoted as saying by CTV News Montreal.
"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.
Macesin was pulled over and slapped with the fine under a section of the Quebec Highway Safety Code that reads: "No person may, while driving a road vehicle, use a hand-held device that includes a telephone function."
Macesin argued that technically he was not using or holding a phone.
"It's not so much handheld. It's a watch. You know, it's on my wrist. That's where it gets controversial. It's like, 'Is it? Is it not?' but I think this needs to be talked about," he said.
Lawyer Avi Levy, who specialises in fighting cases involving traffic violations, said, "I knew it was just a question of time before we got a case like this, but it definitely won't be the last."
"I'm not convinced that the Apple Watch itself is a phone. It's rather a Bluetooth device that communicates a telephone signal from the phone and it has been established in the law that you're allowed to use Bluetooth devices and it doesn't constitute an infraction," he said.
Macesin is contesting his ticket and is considering hiring a lawyer to represent him in the case, the report said.
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