Google Glass while driving leads to traffic ticket – Is it illegal behind the wheel?
The controversial Google Glass eyewear seems to be facing another challenge, as a woman just got a ticket for wearing the tech while driving.
Cecilia Abadie may be the first person to receive a traffic ticket for wearing the innovative Google Glass while driving. The question is... will she be the last?
"A cop just stopped me and gave me a ticket for wearing Google Glass while driving!" the woman posted on her Google+ page. "The exact line says: Driving with Monitor visible to Driver (Google Glass)."
"Is #GoogleGlass illegal while driving or is this cop wrong??? Any legal advice is appreciated!!! This happened in California. Do you know any other #GlassExplorers that got a similar ticket anywhere in the US?"
This could well be the very first traffic ticket for wearing Google Glass while driving, or at least the first one to be reported. It does, however, raise the question of whether or not it is legal to drive while wearing Google Glass. Is it impairing a person's ability to drive safely and carefully? Is it helping? Was the police officer simply not up to date with the latest technology?
As expected, the woman's post stirred quite some interest on Google+, making many people wonder whether it's actually safe or legal to use the Google Glass eyewear while driving.
Google has not offered any official comment so far, but the company is expected to address the issue and explain how it plans to handle such instances. If it happened once, it's very likely that it will happen again if no measures are taken.
Cecilia Abadie was driving in California when she received the traffic ticket for wearing Google Glass behind the wheel. Until things are sorted out, Google Glass owners might want to leave the eyegear aside while driving if they want to avoid getting pulled over.
Despite the fact that certain matters are obviously left hanging in the air regarding the innovative eyewear, Google has just announced Google Glass 2. The new gadget will be offered to existing Google Glass owners who have purchased their eyegear before Oct. 28. Google Glass 2 appears largely the same in terms of design language, but Google might have made some internal enhancements.
In other words, those who own the current Google Glass model will be able to swap it out for the new and improved version. It remains unclear, however, if this will be a free upgrade or there will be some sort of cost involved.