West Virginia House Committe legislators have recently introduced a bill banning Google Glass users from using the device while driving, similar to existing texting-while-driving laws. But now it appears that that bill is unlikely to pass this year, according to a report on CNET.
The bill, entitled HB 3057, was proposed to protect drivers from facing the same risks that driving while distracted by texting and using cell phones. However, the bill's author, Gary G. Howell, has told CNET that the bill was not brought up during a critical meeting, and thus will not be made into law this year.
"The coverage of the bill was discussed in the House Committee on Roads and Transportation today, but the bill was not...It should be dead for the year barring a special committee meeting between now and Monday," Howell said.
Though his bill will most likely be ignored for the year, Howell points out that that eventually they will have to look into the issue.
"we are going to have to look at the impact Google Glass and similar (devices) will have," he added.
The proposed bill sought to add "'wearable computer with a head mounted display' means a computing device which is worn on the head and projects visual information into the field of vision of the wearer" to existing texting-while-driving laws.
It is slightly premature to outright ban the Glass from use while driving, considering that the device has not been released besides a few thousand prototypes of the specialized eyewear. The device is expected for a wide retail release sometime during this year. It is unknown if Google plans to modify the Glass to offer an audio only driving mode, or if they have no plans to change the device to fit around any future roadblocks. West Virginia is the only state to prematurely try and ban the device while driving.