Google may be getting Glass’s fashion situation under control by partnering with Warby Parker, but Glass’s potential to be dangerously distracting still seems like a problem. And where there’s a problem, West Virginian legislators know to step in with preemptive regulation. Apparently.
Inspired by a CNET review of Glass, Gary G. Howell, a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, is introducing a bill to ban driving with Glass on. He told CNET‘s Chris Matyszczyk in an email that he thinks Glass would pose the same problems as texting while driving. Howell noted that young people are more likely to be inexperienced drivers and “it is mostly the young that are the tech-savvy that try new things.” Howell added:
I am a libertarian, and government has no business protecting us from ourselves, but it does have a duty to make sure I don’t injure or kill someone else.
Other groups are already reacting against Glass, citing privacy concerns and general cyborg creepiness. But Howell supports glass off the road. “I actually like the idea of the product and I believe it is the future,” he said. Maybe he actually has $US1,500 lying around and wants us to save him from himself.