California courts may have set precedence today as a Google Glass traffic ticket was thrown out. Reuters reported the decision was handed down today by a Sand Diego court commissioner in a case that may have lasting implications for how wearable technology will continue to be interpreted by the current laws of the land.
As The Inquisitr originally reported, the case stems from a traffic stop in late October when Cecilia Abadie was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol. Her offense was originally for speeding, but when the officer came up to the window and saw Ms. Abadie wearing her Google Glass while driving, she was cited for driving “with a monitor visible”.
Google Glass is designed to overlay information onto a small lens that can show text messages, emails, map directions and even record video or snap pictures. In order for the user to see the information, they must physically move their eyes upward as the lens is designed to stay out of the normal line of sight.
States such as Delaware, West Virigina and New Jersey have specific laws against the new wearable tech, but the case in San Diego is the first known legal case involving Google Glass. The officer writing the ticket cited California vehicle code 27602 which prevents any video display from being used in front of the driver head rest.
San Diego Commissioner John Blair ended up throwing out the charges against Ms. Abadie Thrusday on the grounds that it was not possible to determine if the Google Glass device was operating or not. It is only illegal to wear the device while driving if it is being actively used.
Google Glass is designed to show a lighted indicator when the glasses are in use. However, there are not only physical products such as the Google Glass Sunshade that covers the indicator but hacks that ZDNet have reported on that can turn off the indicator at a software level giving privacy advocates fuel for the ongoing legal debates swarming around the new tech. This makes the burden of proof extremely difficult in determining if the head worn tech is indeed operating at any given time.
The decision does not give California drivers the freedom to wear the tech while driving as Ms. Abadie does. Google Glass users can still be cited in California for wearing the device while driving. It will be up to the officer performing the traffic stop if a warning or ticket is issued. From there the driver can choose to appeal the ticket to have it thrown out as Ms. Abadie did.