Police officers won't be able to tell if Glass is on

Aug 14, 2014 14:35 GMT  ·  By

There’s a lot of opposition to Google Glass, especially in the US and mostly from people who have never tried on the device. There have even been a few hints that some new laws could be created to ban the usage of the device behind the wheel, something that one professor doesn’t believe will be too effective. 

According to Adam Gershowitz, a law professor, the police will not be able to enforce laws trying to restrict the use of Google Glass or any other wearable devices for that matter.

He says that the reason behind this is the fact that most bills only forbid “using” Google Glass or any other head-mounted devices that are to come while driving. However, actually wearing the device is fine, especially since they also come with prescription lenses.

Basically, police officers would have no way of knowing whether the device is actually being used or not. The fact that people can quickly turn it off if they are pulled over is surely not going to help matters for the police.

Bills proposed in New Jersey, Delaware, Wyoming, New York, Missouri and West Virginia use the same kind of journal, which makes it obvious that there’s a trend about making laws that cannot be enforced across the US. There are two states that would actually be efficient in instating the no-Google Glass behind the wheel rule and those are Maryland and Illinois, where proposed laws seek a ban on even wearing the device while driving.

Even so, the laws don’t cover other gadgets that are just as distracting, such as the growingly popular smartwatches. They too, will ring up when a message comes, when there’s an incoming call and so on. Basically, just like Glass, they’re smartphones that can be worn in an easier and simpler manner.

All these laws are flawed in actually dealing with the security issues that can be brought forth by using these devices while driving. Perhaps that’s why they’ve been stalling for months rather than progressing towards being adopted.

Google Glass, for its part, is currently still in the beta phase, even though sales have been opened in the United States and United Kingdom. Those who are interested in these countries can pay $1,500 for the device, plus a few extra hundred bucks for additional gear, such as headphones, shades and so on.