Google lobbying officials to oppose proposed driving laws banning Glass

The search engine giant apparently doesn’t want its wearable to be banned for drivers on the road.

Google Glass is still very much in a beta stage, but with a planned public release expected later this year, the company really needs to find a way around any possible legal issues that may arise once Glass goes public.

Not too long ago, a woman in San Diego was ticketed for driving while wearing Glass. She decided to fight the ticket, claiming that while she was wearing Glass, it wasn’t being used, hence she wasn’t distracted by it. This technicality worked to her benefit as the traffic court thought it made sense and dismissed the ticket. Law enforcement officials and road safety groups might not see eye to eye on this, which is why there has been pressure on states to introduce legislation that would ban drivers from wearing Google Glass when they’re on the road.

As many as eight states in the U.S. are currently considering legislation that would ban Glass for drivers, and Reuters has heard that Google has begun lobbying officials in at least three states to oppose these proposed restrictions. The states named in the report are Illinois, Delaware and Missouri. Google is yet to contact officials in New York, Maryland and West Virginia, where similar bills have also been introduced this year. The scribe wasn’t able to obtain a response from officials in New Jersey and Wyoming, which are also considering similar restrictions on Glass.

There’s one side that argues that Glass could lead to dangerous and potentially fatal road accidents, that drivers would be enticed to peek at incoming emails or messages and that would distract them from the task at hand. One thing is for sure though, this debate is going to go on for a long time, and will only intensify once Google Glass becomes available to the public. How legislators will shape their views remains to be seen, and if any unfortunate incidents do occur where drivers are found to have been distracted by Glass, that could very well add weight to the voice that says ban Glass on the road.

Source:*Reuters

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