Illinois Moves to Ban Google Glass from the Roads

Google Glass has just hit the public market, the lawmakers are already looking to get rid of it, from roads at least. Illinois legislators are worried that it will cause a distraction to drivers.

Google Glass has just hit the public market, and lawmakers are already looking to get rid of it — from cars at least. Illinois legislators are worried that the wearable computers will cause a distraction to drivers. They believe it may be "potentially deadly" and have already introduced a bill that would ban drivers from wearing Glass behind the wheel.

Glass has certain technologies which could help make driving safer, such as navigation, speed monitoring, and exhaustion alerts. Regardless, the legislators are more worried about the distracting features of Glass than the potentially helpful ones.

Google is doing what they can to convince Illinois lawmakers that their product belongs on the road, offering the Illinois General Assembly demonstrations of Glass. State Senator Ira Silverstein, who originally sponsored the bill, received a letter from Google that indicated "they were willing to work with us on this."

Beyond Illinois, Google also has lobbyists working with legislators in Wyoming, Delaware, and Missouri about the use of Glass.

The legislators do have a good point. “You can be watching cat videos driving down the road and laughing at them,” said West Virginia's Gary Howell, “When you’re rolling down the road in a ton-and-a-half of metal at 65 miles per hour, you can do some serious damage.”