Apple Watch owner fined $120 for changing songs while driving

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Comments

  • Reply 41 of 124
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member
    We have sued Apple regarding distracted driving and the Apple Watch.

    See ddlawsuit.com

    Eyes on the watch means no eyes on the road. In 2013, 3,100 deaths and 424,000 injuries were caused by distracted driving. That is no joke.

    The watch is going to be a major distraction. The icons are tiny and third party apps are slow. That means even more time with eyes off the road. Two seconds with eyes of the road can end your life or the lives of others. The road is invisible (repeat: invisible!!!) when you look at the watch. And many people get sucked into looking at the screen and will forget that they are driving. That's why so many people are killed. They literally forget they are driving. See first video on our website if you don't believe it. Those are real dashcam videos.

    Try this. Look straight ahead, now look at your watch for two seconds. Can you still see ahead? No you cannot. It's like wearing a blindfold.

    Check the videos on our website. If you do nothing else, check the first video on our home page. It's very brief. People just don't appreciate the seriousness of the problem.

    Apple has been irresponsible. It must educate people about why it's so dangerous to use the watch when driving and ask them please not to do it.

    Coalition Against Distracted Driving

    Either you forgot the sarcasm tag, or you're a bottom feeding lowlife that belongs in jail for the soon to be crime of wrongful accusation.
  • Reply 42 of 124
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    adm1 wrote: »
    The adverts/critics here say talking on your phone is distracting, yet talking to passengers or talking on a handsfree isn't?! crazy.

    yes, here's some science to this -- dealing with cognitive load. it takes more work for you to have a conversation with somebody not in your visible presence than it does with someone who is. has to do with scanning for visual cues, feedback, etc. it's why people talk louder and act weirder on speaker calls, etc.
  • Reply 43 of 124
    brucemcbrucemc Posts: 1,541member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Stephen Joseph View Post



    We have sued Apple regarding distracted driving and the Apple Watch.



    See ddlawsuit.com



    Eyes on the watch means no eyes on the road. In 2013, 3,100 deaths and 424,000 injuries were caused by distracted driving. That is no joke.



    The watch is going to be a major distraction. The icons are tiny and third party apps are slow. That means even more time with eyes off the road. Two seconds with eyes of the road can end your life or the lives of others. The road is invisible (repeat: invisible!!!) when you look at the watch. And many people get sucked into looking at the screen and will forget that they are driving. That's why so many people are killed. They literally forget they are driving. See first video on our website if you don't believe it. Those are real dashcam videos.



    Try this. Look straight ahead, now look at your watch for two seconds. Can you still see ahead? No you cannot. It's like wearing a blindfold.



    Check the videos on our website. If you do nothing else, check the first video on our home page. It's very brief. People just don't appreciate the seriousness of the problem.



    Apple has been irresponsible. It must educate people about why it's so dangerous to use the watch when driving and ask them please not to do it.



    Coalition Against Distracted Driving



    Sorry, but if you firmly believe that the manufacturer of a watch (smart or not) is the party responsible for any accidents as a result of distracted driving, then you sir are in need of perspective.  I realize that "action groups"/lawyers like yourself target companies like Apple as they have a lot of money, but you are clearly missing the fact that it is the individuals that perform the actions that in this case may be illegal in certain districts.

     

    I agree with laws against distracted driving.  I don't agree with parasitic organizations that attempt to extort money from the manufacturers of devices which may be used completely safely with only a minor amount of good sense.  I take it your organization has also sued every mobile phone operator, every coffee restaurant, as well as the manufacturers of the radios within the cars, and the car companies themselves?

     

    Crawl back under your rock.

  • Reply 44 of 124
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    We have sued Apple regarding distracted driving and the Apple Watch.

    See ddlawsuit.com

    Eyes on the watch means no eyes on the road. In 2013, 3,100 deaths and 424,000 injuries were caused by distracted driving. That is no joke.

    The watch is going to be a major distraction. The icons are tiny and third party apps are slow. That means even more time with eyes off the road. Two seconds with eyes of the road can end your life or the lives of others. The road is invisible (repeat: invisible!!!) when you look at the watch. And many people get sucked into looking at the screen and will forget that they are driving. That's why so many people are killed. They literally forget they are driving. See first video on our website if you don't believe it. Those are real dashcam videos.

    Try this. Look straight ahead, now look at your watch for two seconds. Can you still see ahead? No you cannot. It's like wearing a blindfold.

    Check the videos on our website. If you do nothing else, check the first video on our home page. It's very brief. People just don't appreciate the seriousness of the problem.

    Apple has been irresponsible. It must educate people about why it's so dangerous to use the watch when driving and ask them please not to do it.

    Coalition Against Distracted Driving

    Whoa ... you totally changed your post in the fraction of a second I must have hit reply and didn't notice ... and therefor my reply has to go.
  • Reply 45 of 124
    isteelersisteelers Posts: 738member
    We have sued Apple regarding distracted driving and the Apple Watch.

    See ddlawsuit.com

    Eyes on the watch means no eyes on the road. In 2013, 3,100 deaths and 424,000 injuries were caused by distracted driving. That is no joke.

    The watch is going to be a major distraction. The icons are tiny and third party apps are slow. That means even more time with eyes off the road. Two seconds with eyes of the road can end your life or the lives of others. The road is invisible (repeat: invisible!!!) when you look at the watch. And many people get sucked into looking at the screen and will forget that they are driving. That's why so many people are killed. They literally forget they are driving. See first video on our website if you don't believe it. Those are real dashcam videos.

    Try this. Look straight ahead, now look at your watch for two seconds. Can you still see ahead? No you cannot. It's like wearing a blindfold.

    Check the videos on our website. If you do nothing else, check the first video on our home page. It's very brief. People just don't appreciate the seriousness of the problem.

    Apple has been irresponsible. It must educate people about why it's so dangerous to use the watch when driving and ask them please not to do it.

    Coalition Against Distracted Driving

    It's not Apples job to educate customers regarding distracted driving.
  • Reply 46 of 124
    brucemcbrucemc Posts: 1,541member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by dani0805 View Post

     

     

    I am afraid the answer is a bit simplistic. Even if operating a phone might be dangerous while driving, so is checking the kids on the back sit or adjusting ones hairs and/or appearance using the courtesy mirror or even looking at the passenger. But, and I might be wrong, you cannot catalogue and prohibit all dangerous activities while driving. You still must rely on common sense and general laws. Lawmakers tend to focus on new technology following the same logic that you just used "since we lived without it before we can keep on that way". Is this right?




    I am sure there must be some studies on this (being honest, don't have time to look into that right now), but I strongly suspect that the distraction level of "texting" is much higher than the other activities.  Based on anecdotal observations of drivers (more the young, but not exclusive by any means), texting is extremely distracting.  Not only are you staring at the screen, but trying to type on a touch screen as well.  Then there is the fact that the brain is having to concentrate on the topic of the text/thread.  You see these people and they are looking down more than up much of the time.  Altogether, a recipe for disaster.  

     

    I have read that texting while driving is considered higher risk than drunk driving.

  • Reply 47 of 124
    I think this ticket is perfect as it will help clear-up what is permitted or not. As others have pointed out, if you can change a song using the car's own music system, doing it from a watch is not that much more distracting.
  • Reply 48 of 124
    auxioauxio Posts: 2,717member

    Some of the discussions in this thread are unbelievably stupid.

     

    To the people who want to try and find a loophole in the wording of the legislation so that it's legal to use an Apple Watch while driving (even while stopped): you are the reason why we waste billions of dollars on our legal system (court cases, amending laws to close loopholes, etc).  Money which could be put to something far more useful.  The next time you complain about high taxes, think about the fact that you are part of the problem by trying to scam the system instead of just using common sense.  Anything which requires you to take your eyes off the road while operating a motorized vehicle should be covered by the law, period.  Zero loopholes/exceptions.  Human life is worth far more than anything you could need to be doing with a device.

     

    To the person who is suing Apple because of the watch: same thing applies -- common sense.  There is absolutely no problem with wearing an Apple Watch while driving if you never look at it.  Yes, it buzzes for notifications, but you still make the choice to look at it or not.  So again, wasting money on a lawsuit.  Don't want to hear you complaining about taxes either.

  • Reply 49 of 124

    Tuning the satellite radio in my aging vehicle requires I take one hand off the wheel and direct my attention to the tiny dot matrix display in the dash (one line of text, located about two feet from my eyes). It's a 10 year old radio, and requires more than one second to lock in on a new channel before I can decide to stay with that channel or keep tuning.

     

    That legal action is dramatically more distracting than changing songs on a Watch or an iPhone.

  • Reply 50 of 124

     

     

  • Reply 51 of 124
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by auxio View Post

     

    Some of the discussions in this thread are unbelievably stupid.

     

    To the people who want to try and find a loophole in the wording of the legislation so that it's legal to use an Apple Watch while driving (even while stopped): you are the reason why we waste billions of dollars on our legal system (court cases, amending laws to close loopholes, etc).  Money which could be put to something far more useful.  The next time you complain about high taxes, think about the fact that you are part of the problem by trying to scam the system instead of just using common sense.  Anything which requires you to take your eyes off the road while operating a motorized vehicle should be covered by the law, period.  Zero loopholes/exceptions.  Human life is worth far more than anything you could need to be doing with a device.

     

    To the person who is suing Apple because of the watch: same thing applies -- common sense.  There is absolutely no problem with wearing an Apple Watch while driving if you never look at it.  Yes, it buzzes for notifications, but you still make the choice to look at it or not.  So again, wasting money on a lawsuit.  Don't want to hear you complaining about taxes either.


    Sounds like you need to disconnect your car radio and elect some better law makers.  Have fun with that.

  • Reply 52 of 124
    auxioauxio Posts: 2,717member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by WestCoastStar View Post



    I think this ticket is perfect as it will help clear-up what is permitted or not. As others have pointed out, if you can change a song using the car's own music system, doing it from a watch is not that much more distracting.



    I have a button on my steering wheel which can be used to change the song on my music system.  And, as others have pointed out, you can use voice control via Siri.  Both of which don't require you to take your eyes off the road (as using the Apple Watch itself does).

  • Reply 53 of 124
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by auxio View Post

     

    Anything which requires you to take your eyes off the road while operating a motorized vehicle should be covered by the law, period.  Zero loopholes/exceptions.  Human life is worth far more than anything you could need to be doing with a device.


     

    By this logic, it should be illegal to operate the radio, adjust the climate control, glance at your child in the back seat, or eat anything from a drive through. (Although I would support a ban on eating while driving)

     

    In all things, moderation.

  • Reply 54 of 124
    auxioauxio Posts: 2,717member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by GregInPrague View Post

     

    Sounds like you need to disconnect your car radio and elect some better law makers.  Have fun with that.




    Nope, my steering wheel control and Siri work just fine.  And yes, I would love to be able to elect people who make the legal system more efficient.

  • Reply 55 of 124
    relicrelic Posts: 4,735member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post

     



    Have you also sued Timex, Casio, Rolex, Fitbit, Google, Tag Heuer, Pebble, and every other watch manufacturer in the world? 


    That doesn't make sense as they just tell time and for that all cars have clocks in them so there is no need to look at your watch.

  • Reply 56 of 124
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Relic View Post

     

    That doesn't make sense as they just tell time and for that all cars have clocks in them so there is no need to look at your watch.


    Should your car be allowed to have a clock since looking at that would distract you from looking at the road?

  • Reply 57 of 124
    duplicate :(

  • Reply 58 of 124
    dani0805dani0805 Posts: 9member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by auxio View Post

     



    I have a button on my steering wheel which can be used to change the song on my music system.  And, as others have pointed out, you can use voice control via Siri.  Both of which don't require you to take your eyes off the road (as using the Apple Watch itself does).




    but using a tom tom does, as well as changing radio station or selecting a phone contact to call through a handsfree... all these activity are legal and are actually encouraged!

     

    so hmm...

     

    As I explained in a long post before the watch IS distracting and a bit more then the controls which are part of the car, but should it be illegal for that? When I look in the navigation system for a fuel station along the highway, that is a lot more distracting then using my watch but its not illegal...

  • Reply 59 of 124
    gregquinngregquinn Posts: 77member
    I don't think we know at what level the driver was distracted by the watch to really make informed comments.
  • Reply 60 of 124
    auxioauxio Posts: 2,717member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Robert Mark View Post

     

     

    By this logic, it should be illegal to operate the radio, adjust the climate control, glance at your child in the back seat, or eat anything from a drive through. (Although I would support a ban on eating while driving)

     

    In all things, moderation.


     

    Again, I can control all of those using my steering wheel quite easily without taking my eyes off the road.  My car also has voice commands which can do those things.  This is the reason why I bought a modern car.

     

    As for checking my child, I use the rear view mirror.  Which, technically is taking my eyes off the road, but since it's at the top of my windshield, I still can see things happening on the road.  If there's something which needs to be dealt with for my child, I pull off and park as soon as possible and deal with it.  Being a few minutes late for where I'm going is far less important than accidentally hitting someone (which will make you later than a few minutes for sure).

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