Google Glass faces possible driving ban in Illinois

Google‘s Project Glass is pushing more than just the boundaries of stylish and wearable technology. In certain jurisdictions around the world, it is also pushing the boundaries of driving laws as well. Joining into this fray is Illinois which might soon outlaw the wearing of Google Glass while driving.

Google Glass once again touched on this sore legal point late last October when a woman from California was ticketed not only for speeding but also for wearing Google Glass. While it’s almost a pleasure to know that authorities are quite aware of the existence of Google Glass, the incident brings up again the debate of whether the eyewear should be lumped in with other sources of driving distraction that are specifically forbidden by laws.

Illinois State Senator Ira Silverstein thinks so, joining his voice with others from New Jersey, Delaware, and West Virginia. Even across the pond in the UK, legislators are mulling over penalizing the use of Glass while driving. For the Senator, Google Glass is just another source of distraction, the same way monitor or cellphones are, regardless or because of the fact that the display in this case is located directly within the driver’s line of sight. That said, given the novelty of the device, it may, indeed, cause some amount of distraction when it starts becoming available to consumers.

There are some, however, who theorize that cellphone use while driving, which is being used as the basis for anti-Glass legislation, actually has very little bearing on recent vehicular accidents. Given the utility and convenience that Glass affords in the areas of driving and navigation, as well as some automaker’s interest in the device, such preemptive legal action might make it more difficult for Glass to be widely adopted.

VIA: BGR