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Google Glass User Fights Speeding Ticket, Saying She's Defending the Future
Nerval's Lobster writes "A California software developer dubbed an explorer by Google and a scofflaw by the California Highway Patrol appeared in court to fight over the purpose and usage of wearable electronics. Cecilia Abadie denies she was doing 80 mph in a 65 mph zone when she was pulled over by the CHP Oct. 29 of last year, but proudly admits wearing her early edition of Google's Google Glass augmented-reality goggles. She just doesn't agree with the CHP's contention that Google Glass is a television. Abadie, who works at virtual-reality sports software developer Full Swing Golf and was one of the first 'explorers' chosen by Google as early testers of Google Glass before they were released, wears the goggles for as long as 12 hours per day, using them both as a way to pull email, driving directions and other information into her view and to push pictures, Tweets, updates and other information out to professional and social networks in a process she describes as 'living in transparency.' The California Highway Patrol, unfortunately for Abadie, considered wearing Google Glass to be the same as watching television while driving. One of the two citations Abadie was given was for speeding; the other was for 'driving with a monitor visible in violation of California Vehicle Code 27602.' Fighting that perception in court is 'a big responsibility for me and also for the judge who is going to interpret a very old law compared with how fast technology is changing,' Abadie told the Associated Press for a Jan. 16 story." A court commissioner in San Diego dismissed the Google Glass ticket, saying he could find no evidence that the device was in use while Abadie was driving.
If you are using Google Glass while driving, you ARE distracted. There is no guess work or assumptions here. If the device is OFF, then you might as well take it off, and then there would be no problem.
It's irrelevant that there is "no evidence" Glass was being used while driving. The fact of the matter is Abadie was wearing Glass while driving and California law prohibits driving even with a computer sitting closed on the front passenger seat or anywhere in the front of the car.
So what about the cars with HUDs in them? No special training, and so far, no legal assertions that they are illegal.
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Seeing the turn by turn navigation directions without looking away to the dashboard display is not "helpful"?
And truth be told, the sooner HUDs are moved into the driving experience, the better. It's just that at certain speeds particular features should likely be disabled.
I would of been more impressed if she used the google glasses to prove she wasn't speeding.
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"installed" means kept, nothing more. and a dash mounted tablet is legal as long as you keep it in car mode, and don't get caught watching youtube on it while driving. google glass is clearly a huge distraction while driving. if talking on a cellphone is illegal, then wearing google glass should also be illegal.
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What if you say that you the glass is your GPS, has an android "driving lock" that disables its use for anything else?
Not that I defend glassholes , but enjoy finding workarounds to the law.
There's nothing "clearly" about it. It entirely depends on what, if anything, the Glass is displaying.
GPS, navigation: Far less distracting then a traditional GPS unit as your eyes don't need to leave the road.
Vehicle information: Far less distracting then even the built in speedometers and such, again because your eyes need not leave the road. For example, Glass linked up with http://www.automatic.com/
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