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He pulled her over and gave her a ticket.

Ontario amended its Highway Traffic Act in 2009 to counter distracted driving by prohibiting driving “while holding or using a handheld wireless communication device.”

Ambrose argued this didn’t apply in her case.

Justice of the Peace Lloyd Phillipps rejected Ambrose’s testimony that, despite the multi-function of the electronic device that straps to the wrist and sometimes referred as an iWatch, she was only checking the time, which requires her to tap it once to activate and again to deactivate the display. Phillipps rejected her argument the watch wasn’t connected to an external communication device and that the Apple Watch being on her wrist satisfies an exemption for devices securely mounted inside the vehicle.

“Checking one’s timepiece is normally done in a moment, even if it had to be touched to be activated,” said Phillipps.

“Despite the Apple Watch being smaller than a cellular phone, on the evidence, it is a communication device capable of receiving and transmitting electronic data. While attached to the defendant’s wrist, it is no less a source of distraction than a cellphone taped to someone’s wrist,” Phillipps said.

In the end, it was not the technology of the watch that doomed Ambrose, but human failing.

“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.

Cody Lawson, a Guelph paralegal who represented Ambrose in the Ontario Court of Justice, said Ontario’s laws must keep up with changes in technology.

“It’s new technology and technology keeps moving,” said Lawson.

“There is Google Glass (wearable computer eyeglasses) and much more wearable tech is coming. There is no strict law on using an e-watch or an iWatch. They need to determine if it is the same level of distraction as a cellphone. They really need to be specific on what you can and cannot do.”

Ambrose was fined $400.

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