• Quebec man fined $120 for using his Apple Watch to change songs, even though the law only mentions h
    58 replies, posted
In this case something to remember is officers are required to enforce the "spirit" of the law, or to enforce the law under the intent and purpose it was created for. [I]Required.[/I] This law was made to abate drivers operating devices in their vehicles, causing distraction. In this case, the officer was correct.
[QUOTE=MedicWine;47821442]My only thought is, if its on your left wrist, then he was essentially creating a 'dash mounted music control' similar to a radio (it's a small watch so in the music app there's probably very basic driver friendly controls) except its located in peripheral view on the steering wheel. Thats probably the safest place for it to be. If he took the watch off and mounted it somewhere on the dash where he wouldnt have to look at it (or for any longer than a regular driver would take to look at the radio) he could, but honestly the left wrist (I guess only when the hand is in the 10 o clock position) is a pretty good spot. A lot of steering wheels have controls on the front of them.[/QUOTE] Only problem with his left wrist is he still has to use his right hand to use it. It's not like something on the steering wheel where he can just use his left thumb. Unless he has REALLY fucking impressive thumb joints.
[QUOTE=Pandamox;47820271][img]http://pictures.dealer.com/n/northlanddodgetctc/0139/32fabe2133be216fd0f5afb99e9cd016x.jpg[/img] this is what my truck has in it. yet you can fiddle around with any of that shit while driving and it's perfectly legal. lean over to hit one button on your phone to change the song? ILLEGAL[/QUOTE] is that a gear dial wat
[QUOTE=MIPS;47820678]BC has already appended their handsfree law to ban use of the watch while driving. In-car entertainment systems are generally designed to be as minimally distractive to the driver as possible in order to be exempted from handsfree laws. Cars with controls on the steering wheels themselves are the best because half the time you do not even need to look down to change tracks for example. My car has one of these fitted to the steering column. [url]http://www.crutchfield.com.edgesuite.net/pix.crutchfield.com/ImageHandler/fixedscale/400/300/lifestyle/2000/h158RMX4S.jpeg[/url] Moving my left hand six inches to change a disc using the remote is WAY less distractive than taking my right hand and having to reach over to the stereo to do the same thing. Having needed to turn on the backlight on my watch while driving almost requires both hands and that is just to press one button. There is no swiping or spinning of dials. [editline]maple syrup, eh.[/editline] Oh god. I just realized you are in Prince George. :tinfoil:[/QUOTE] As well, the car's buttons and dials are always static. 90% of the time when I'm changing radio stations, AC settings, etc. I won't even be looking at them because I know where they are, and can adjust them while still watching the road.
[QUOTE=J!NX;47821085]or maybe you should watch the road because cars are [URL="https://www.google.com/search?q=car+crash&es_sm=122&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=N4JmVej8H5OWygTniYCoBg&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1920&bih=922"]dangerous[/URL][/QUOTE] So we should ban all dash control use by the driver? [editline]27th May 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Paramud;47821849]As well, the car's buttons and dials are always static. 90% of the time when I'm changing radio stations, AC settings, etc. I won't even be looking at them because I know where they are, and can adjust them while still watching the road.[/QUOTE] Many car infotainment systems have terrible UIs where buttons and functions seem to jump around randomly from screen to screen. I was in someone's car once and the clock was in a different place on each screen.
[QUOTE=Zeke129;47821870]So we should ban all dash control use by the driver?[/QUOTE] you can physically feel them without looking, you have to actually look at a watch to use it I use my radio all the time without looking
[QUOTE=Zeke129;47821870]Many car infotainment systems have terrible UIs where buttons and functions seem to jump around randomly from screen to screen. I was in someone's car once and the clock was in a different place on each screen.[/QUOTE] I can't really speak about that, I've never driven a car with a digital screen in it.
Still has the capacity to distract you whilst driving. Perfectly valid, there's enough stupidity on the roads as is, certainly don't need the new "in" thing causing more. Ridiculous to compare changing the radio to physically touching your wrist.
[QUOTE=Glue Factory;47821970]Still has the capacity to distract you whilst driving. Perfectly valid, there's enough stupidity on the roads as is, certainly don't need the new "in" thing causing more. Ridiculous to compare changing the radio to physically touching your wrist.[/QUOTE] As others have noted, not in some new cars which have touchscreens and worse UI's. [editline]28th May 2015[/editline] Not that I think those touchscreens are a good idea in cars.
[QUOTE=Levelog;47821976]As others have noted, not in some new cars which have touchscreens and worse UI's. [editline]28th May 2015[/editline] Not that I think those touchscreens are a good idea in cars.[/QUOTE] Terrible horrible awful ideas. There's a reason knobs, buttons, levers, and switches survived the advent of flat touch-screens for quite some time - you know where your hand is without looking, and all those doohickeys are tactile contact points, you can find them without your eyes leaving the road.
I always drive one handed anyway. But I also use a Pebble so you don't even need to look at the watch to use media controls. I mean when the alternative is picking up my phone, yeah, that's much safer. I don't like touchscreens in cars either. Not only because of the lack of feedback, but they fuck with your nightvision too.
[QUOTE=Pandamox;47820129]As people have pointed out, it's less about it being hand-held or having a telephone feature, and more about the fact that it can still distract the driver. Hell, someone hit an old woman on a crosswalk here a few weeks ago because they were busy messing with the AC controls in their car. I think people should get fines for distracted driving, it's just the line on what is labelled as distracted driving and what isn't is fuzzy and they need to make the laws a lot more clear. Currently it seems people can't change songs on their phone when it's plugged in using an AUX cord, but they can fiddle around on the touch screen displays built in to vehicles all day long.[/QUOTE] Mmhm. We shouldn't be trying to ban distracted driving on a per-distraction basis. We'd have to ban most of the standard equipment in the car as well. Radio? Aircon? Heater? Manual Transmissions, even, as inexperienced drivers sometimes have to look at the shifter? Nah. Just ban distracted driving itself. The how is irrelevant, what matters is whether or not the driver is paying attention to the road or to something other than the road.
[QUOTE=TestECull;47822956]Mmhm. We shouldn't be trying to ban distracted driving on a per-distraction basis. We'd have to ban most of the standard equipment in the car as well. Radio? Aircon? Heater? Manual Transmissions, even, as inexperienced drivers sometimes have to look at the shifter? Nah. Just ban distracted driving itself. The how is irrelevant, what matters is whether or not the driver is paying attention to the road or to something other than the road.[/QUOTE] You'd end up with a very vague law, and those are almost always abused by either the police or the offenders.
[QUOTE=J!NX;47821883]you can physically feel them without looking, you have to actually look at a watch to use it I use my radio all the time without looking[/QUOTE] I can't speak for the apple watch's UI, but with the android wear it is very simple to change the song without looking swipe up, swipe to the left, tap the right hand side of the screen
[QUOTE=Snowmew;47820053]Except many new cars have touchscreens.[/QUOTE] Yeah I know. But if using a touchscreen device on your wrist isn't considered safe then devices that are embedded in the car shouldn't either. Reaching for your wrist is no different than reaching for the dashboard, I don't see why one should be allowed but not the other.
[QUOTE=Levelog;47821485]Only problem with his left wrist is he still has to use his right hand to use it. It's not like something on the steering wheel where he can just use his left thumb. Unless he has REALLY fucking impressive thumb joints.[/QUOTE] You still have to take your hand off the wheel to use the ac or radio...
[QUOTE=Kljunas;47823572]Yeah I know. But if using a touchscreen device on your wrist isn't considered safe then devices that are embedded in the car shouldn't either. Reaching for your wrist is no different than reaching for the dashboard, I don't see why one should be allowed but not the other.[/QUOTE] Are you allowed to fiddle with car screen while driving? That's new to me
[QUOTE=itisjuly;47824014]Are you allowed to fiddle with car screen while driving? That's new to me[/QUOTE] Most cars only lock out entering GPS info and other obvious things like Bluetooth pairing. Other than that, its fair game.
[QUOTE=Demache;47824386]Most cars only lock out entering GPS info and other obvious things like Bluetooth pairing. Other than that, its fair game.[/QUOTE] But what about the law? Over here you're not allowed to use anything that requires switching attention while driving, including gps and any other interactive thing. If you need to look at it or hold it = not allowed.
[QUOTE=MedicWine;47823914]You still have to take your hand off the wheel to use the ac or radio...[/QUOTE] One hand though. Your other remains firmly on the wheel, keeping you in control. Here's an experiment. Get in your car and put both hands on the steering wheel. Now try and do something with your watch and imagine you are driving. You use one hand to interact with the watch, while the other hand and arm has to move to such an angle that you need to loosen your grip on the steering wheel to see the face of the watch. that's bad, no matter how good you say your reflexes are.
[QUOTE=itisjuly;47824403]But what about the law? Over here you're not allowed to use anything that requires switching attention while driving, including gps and any other interactive thing. If you need to look at it or hold it = not allowed.[/QUOTE] Remember I'm looking at this from a US perspective. Those lockouts I don't believe are required by law. And if they are, they are the only things that are. It's the drivers responsibility to make sure they aren't distracted. Unfortunately if you did make a car that did lock out everything, nobody would buy it. They would just buy a used model that doesn't or a competitors.
[QUOTE=MedicWine;47823914]You still have to take your hand off the wheel to use the ac or radio...[/QUOTE] I'm pretty sure he was talking about the controls on the steering wheel though. I don't have to take my hand off the wheel for those, maybe just slide it down an inch or two.
[QUOTE=J!NX;47821883]you can physically feel them without looking, you have to actually look at a watch to use it I use my radio all the time without looking[/QUOTE] More and more cars are replacing buttons with touchscreens. Look at the Model S, there's only 1 button on the dash. [editline]28th May 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=TestECull;47822956]Mmhm. We shouldn't be trying to ban distracted driving on a per-distraction basis. We'd have to ban most of the standard equipment in the car as well. Radio? Aircon? Heater? Manual Transmissions, even, as inexperienced drivers sometimes have to look at the shifter? Nah. Just ban distracted driving itself. The how is irrelevant, what matters is whether or not the driver is paying attention to the road or to something other than the road.[/QUOTE] Glance over at your kid in the backseat? Distracted driving! Ticket!
Technically, the law just states that it is prohibited to have your phone in your hands at all times, even just holding it. Fine print is that if it's on a rack/support, you can use it, since it becomes hands free. It's debatable, but it is cleary wrote in the CSR that any devices with a phone function HELD in the hands of the driver are illegal and subject to a fine and 4 points. Those smart watches aren't hand held / nor have phone function by themselves and if the guy wanted to take the ticket to court, he would surely win.
[QUOTE=Snowmew;47820053]Except many new cars have touchscreens.[/QUOTE] We have a nice chunk of customers who spring for a slightly used previous model, because the new model has a touchscreen for everything. Doesn't help that the new models also have comically small diameter steering wheels. [sp]I work at a Peugeot dealership[/sp]
[QUOTE=Van-man;47826368] [sp]I work at a Peugeot dealership[/sp][/QUOTE] your customers are doomed anyways
[QUOTE=Paramud;47823024]You'd end up with a very vague law, and those are almost always abused by either the police or the offenders.[/QUOTE] It's still a better path than trying to legislate away each and every distraction as it comes up. Besides, we already have catch-all traffic laws on the books! Reckless driving springs to mind. It doesn't say what, precisely, constitutes reckless driving. That's left to the discretion of the officers on the road and it's not abused.
[QUOTE=Kljunas;47819983]So using a smartwatch in the car should be legal unless it has a telephone function? What is the rationale behind that? They could forbid touchscreen devices or something. At least that criterion would make sense.[/QUOTE] I'm just going off of the current law.
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