First Google Glass driving ticket appeal winds up in court

A women in the U.S. intends to fight a traffic ticket issued for wearing her Google Glass headset at the wheel.

The California resident, Cecilia Abadie, is one of the the original "explorers" given a headset to test out before the product becomes mainstream. On Tuesday, she pleaded not guilty to two charges: going 80mph in a 65mph zone, and on a citation usually given to those driving while a video or television screen is on in the front of a vehicle.

Google Glass is a headset that features a small screen, and acts as a computer complete with connection to the Internet and both voice and gesture command activation. The size of the display is roughly a thumbnail, but the explorer says that the device was not active at the time of the charges.

Attorney William Concidine told The Associated Press that she will testify in January, and maintains that the headset was not on while Abadie was driving, but was activated when she spoke to the officer. In addition, the lawyer says that mobile technology should not be included within the citation.

This case, believed to be the first in the U.S., has raised questions over whether Glass can be included in legislation designed for distracted driving caused by large television screens.

While California's law may be lagging behind technology, a number of other states have already introduced proposals that would ban the use of Glass while driving -- even though the product is not yet available to the general public.

We might like showing off our headsets even when they are switched off, but as Nick Starr found while dining this month at a Seattle restaurant, not everyone shares this type of enthusiasm. After refusing to take off his headset at the Lost Lake cafe, he was told to leave. The company said the decision was taken with other customers in mind.

Via: Huffington Post

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com