Commentary

California Issues First Ticket For Wearing Google Glass While Driving

by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer, October 31, 2013

A California resident who this week became the first person in the country to receive a ticket for driving while wearing Google Glass says she is leaning toward taking her case to court.

"The law is not clear, the laws are very outdated," software engineer Cecilia Abadie said, according to The Associated Press. She added that she was “pretty sure” she would contest the ticket.

Abadie took to Google Plus yesterday to report the ticket, which she posted online. It shows that she was pulled over for allegedly going 80 miles per hour in a zone with a speed limit of 65. When the California Highway Patrol officer who stopped her noticed that she was wearing Google Glass, he also charged her with violating a law aimed at preventing people from watching TV while driving.

“Any legal advice is appreciated,” she wrote on Google Plus. As of Thursday, her post had drawn 500 comments, many of which urged her to fight the charge.

California's vehicle code prohibits people from driving with an “operating” video screen in the front of the car, visible to them. That law has an exception for some built-in screens, including GPS displays. But the law doesn't directly address wearable technology like Google Glass, which lets people view videos (as well as other material) on a glass prism.

google

3 comments about "California Issues First Ticket For Wearing Google Glass While Driving".

Check to receive email when comments are posted.

Chuck Lantz from 2007ac.com, 2017ac.com network, October 31, 2013 at 7:30 p.m.
Hmmm, let's see. Focusing your vision on a screen less than an inch from your eye, and then refocusing on everything in front of your car, and then back again. Yeah, that's really logical. And safe. C'mon, people. This is a no-brainer. Wearing Google Glass while driving is as dangerous, if not more so, than talking on a hand-held cell phone. If your vision is occupied looking at the Google screen, you are for all intent and purpose driving while legally BLIND! There is no excuse for this and the woman should have the book thrown at her.
Reply

Paula Lynn from Who Else Unlimited, November 1, 2013 at 1:17 p.m.

Yes, Chuck and her Google Glass should be impounded. She has no right to be on the same road as other people. Wait until the insurance companies get their act together and dismiss coverage for these acts in their contracts with the insured.

Doug Garnett from Protonik, LLC, November 1, 2013 at 5:58 p.m.

I loved the comment from one of the tech elite that when he goes to a meeting and someone is wearing Google Glass, he feels like he's got a gun pointed at him. (Makes sense - are they recording? Are they taking photo's? What's going on? Am I on Candid Camera?) The cultural problems with Glass are at least as massive as legal problems like this.