This could be handy as well as increase your safety in the car.
A recently published patent application that was filed last fall and awarded today shows that Apple might refocus the Apple Watch to determine when you’re driving based on motion detection, then change what alerts are sent, how many you can receive, and where you receive them. Apple even considers which alerts may be too important to hide while driving:
In some embodiments, notifications are completely prevented while the user is controlling the vehicle. In other embodiments, high priority notifications such as emergency calls are permitted while low priority notifications such as incoming e-mails are suppressed.
Apple’s description within the patent describes how the feature could be customized by either the user or the car manufacturer.
As such, some amounts and types of notifications could be set by the user while the manufacturer controlled other alerts. In some embodiments, the wearable device may instead re-route notifications from the device display or speakers to interface elements within the vehicle, such as an in-dash or heads up display or vehicle speakers, rather than preventing notifications from reaching the user.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via 9to5Mac and the United States Patent and Trademark Office