Google Is Lobbying Against Glass Driving Ban

There are at least eight US states that are considering to regulate driving while wearing Google Glass and it seems like the company started their lobbying activity in order to stop them.

Google Glass is a great driving companion, thanks to its navigation feature that offers driving directions right in the user’s eyesight, unlike the car’s built-in displays that require the driver to take his eyes from the road. But this doesn’t stop regulators to think about banning Glass while driving, because they believe it can be used for other activities too.

New York, Maryland, Illinois, Delaware, Missouri, New Jersey, and Wyoming are the eight states where regulators are planning to ban Google Glass and Google has already started lobbying them in Illinois, Delaware and Missouri already. Unfortunately we don’t know how successful the company is, but we can just hope they will manage to convince the regulators that Glass can be a very useful device while driving and it could even save lives, by helping the driver keep his eyes on the road.

Until now, no Google Glass restriction has passed yet, but it might not take long until it will get banned in some of the aforementioned states.

Delaware state Rep. Joseph Miro is one of the bill sponsors and he is also known for sponsoring the bill that banned texting while driving. According to him, Google has contacted him in their lobbying initiatives, but they haven’t been very successful. The bill has already passed committee and it could receive a floor vote very soon, according to Miro.

Miro has also declared that he isn’t against Google Glass, but he just doesn’t agree that it should be worn while driving.

I’m not against Google or Google Glass. It may have a place in society. My issue is that while you are driving, you should have nothing that is going to impede the concentration of the driver.

We will follow this issue and keep you updated when we find out more information. In the meantime we can just hope that Google will manage to deal with the lawmakers and convince them that Glass isn’t that bad while driving.