We’ve already seen a US business ban Google Glass, albeit more as a publicity stunt than anything else, but now moves are afoot to make it illegal to drive while wearing Google Glass. Is that a good idea, and how would you enforce it?
CNET reports that West Virginia’s legislature is mulling over a bill that would make it illegal to drive while using a wearable computer with head mounted display — or for the purposes of already announced products, in effect, Google Glass. It’s a subject that Lifehacker’s covered off previously, noting that there’s no specific laws against it in Australia — or at least not yet.
I can’t, even for a second, argue against the idea that having a heads-up-display of the NRL scores in front of your eyes while you’re hurtling along at 110kph would be a bad idea, no matter how excellent a driver you might think you are. That bit is fine and sensible, but I do wonder as to how you’d actually enforce such a bill.
I don’t have a particularly large problem with the oft-mooted privacy implications of Google Glass. I don’t doubt that they’ll happen to an extent, but the red-light warning of being filmed or photographed and the fact that much of the invasion of privacy issues are existent in the smartphone you’re carrying right now suggests to me that this is an issue that most have already faced. But a pair of glasses that you wouldn’t be able to easily spot on someone’s face while they’re driving, and that could be whipped off and replaced with a regular pair before you got booked? I suppose in the terrible case of an accident it would be rather obvious. Or in other words:
PRO TIP: Don’t wear and use Google Glasses while driving, you IDIOT.
What do you reckon? Should you be free to wear Glass while driving? Is it a sensible law that would be too hard to practically enforce?
[CNET]