There’s another ticket that could be coming down the pike for distracted drivers: driving while wearing Google Glass.
As state and local governments ban texting or using handheld cell phones while operating a vehicle, the advent of wearable computers is already on the radar of anxious legislators who think the new technology could lead to more accidents.
Lawmakers in West Virginia and Delaware have introduced bills banning such electronic devices, and safe driving advocates say it makes sense now to take up the issue — before the use of Google Glass and similar gizmos become commonplace.
A new groundbreaking app released last week even combines the use of Google Glass with driving the Tesla Model S electric car.
“It’s pretty obvious that something that requires the preoccupation of one of your eyes, thus depriving a person of the depth perception of stereoscopic vision, is something that should not be done while driving,” AAA New York spokesman Robert Sinclair said in an email.
Although Google Glass remains in limited release, the futuristic headset could be sold on the mass market next year — meaning more people could be wearing them on the road.
The device allows users to make phone calls, send emails, take pictures and record video — tasks that can be done with simple hand movements and voice-operated commands. A small display sits to the upper right of the headset requiring the wearer to look up.
Already, the idea that someone could be surreptitiously taking pictures and video with Glass has led the device to be banned in certain settings, including strip clubs, casinos and movie theaters.
The Glass website recognizes that there are “some places where using the devices simply isn’t appropriate.”
“It is still very early days for Glass, and we expect that as with other new technologies, such as cell phones, behaviors and social norms will develop over time,” a Glass spokesperson told CNET.com.
But whether the car will be one of those prohibited places for the device remains to be seen.
Evidence suggests that driving with a hands-free phone doesn’t equate with safety.
A AAA study released last month reported that operating a car while using a cell phone — regardless of whether it is hands-free or not — reduces brain activity related to driving by 37%. And drivers who text behind the wheel are eight times more likely to get into a crash or almost crash compared to someone who’s not texting.
“They found that using a hands-free device is just as distracting as handheld phones,” said Robert Rosenberger, assistant professor of philosophy at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
“With Google Glass, not only is it another way to do hands-free calling, but if you’re throwing these other things up in front of you like text, you can be distracted by a text conversation even if you’re looking at the road,” Rosenberger added.
While he isn’t yet convinced Glass should be banned outright, he does like the idea that people are talking about it now.
“With cell phones, we waited until they got normal and people felt like they could do it while driving,” Rosenberger said. “Now they’re using it all the time.”
But software engineer Sahas Katta says there are positive features for pairing wearable computers with a car.
Katta, the founder of San Jose, Calif.-based startup Pepperdeck, released a free app that allows Glass wearers who drive the electric Tesla Model S to control the vehicle in certain ways.
The GlassTesla app lets the driver start or stop the car’s electric charging, honk the horn and flash its lights, keep track of the mileage and temperature and locate the vehicle’s location on a projected map.
The features are possible with the Tesla because the car has a built-in 3G connection.
But Katta said that with Google’s continual upgrade of Glass — and with other carmakers also looking to include Internet connectivity in their vehicles — he is planning for the app to do more.
“If you’re walking to the car with a bunch of groceries in your hands, you’ll be able to say, ‘OK, Glass, open the trunk,'” he said. “It makes our lives more seamless.”
So far, 62 people are actively using the app since it launched.
Katta added that the features are ones that can be accessed while the car is in park.
“Having no devices in the car would be safest, but it’s not always a reality,” he said. “With Glass, you don’t need to take your hands off the wheel and you’re not taking your eyes off the road.”
