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By 4 June 2018 | Categories: news

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Is checking your smartwatch the same as being on your smartphone while driving? A Canadian woman was found guilty of breaking Ontario’s distracted driving law while looking at her Apple Watch while stopped at a robot (a traffic light for anyone reading this outside of SA), according to the National Post.

Granted, perhaps looking is not the right word, rather staring, according to the police officer that ticketed her. The woman, Victoria Ambrose stopped at a red light but failed to move when the light turned green. The officer noted how Ambrose looked up and down at her watch while stopped, and didn’t move until prompted to do so by the officer. He then pulled her over for a ticket.

Ambrose argued she was simply checking the time, but in court Justice of the Peace, Lloyd Phillipps dismissed her argument, also noting, “The key to determining this matter is distraction. It is abundantly clear from the evidence that Ms. Ambrose was distracted when the officer made his observations,” said Phillipps.

The woman was promptly fined C$400, close to R4 000. The case makes for an interesting rethink of the use of smartwatches while driving and that the these connected devices might be just as distracting as working on a regular smartphone.

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