Smart glasses are facing pushback from all over. The whole category is getting banned in courtrooms, on certain parts of cruise ships, during standardized testing, and now they’re speeding toward a statewide ban in cars.
A bill in Illinois has been passed and is now awaiting final approval by Gov. JB Pritzker that would make it illegal to use smart glasses while driving, effectively expanding the definition of “electronic device” under the law. If approved, Illinois would be the first state to expressly ban the use of smart glasses while driving. Other states, such as New York, have proposed prohibiting the use of “head-mounted portable electronic devices” while operating a vehicle, but none of those proposals have even reached a House or Senate floor.
What’s interesting is that the Illinois bill does not distinguish between display and non-display glasses. Unlike mobile phones, which can be used via Bluetooth through your car’s infotainment system, smart glasses would be banned in all instances. Here’s an excerpt from the measure:
“Exceptions to the use of an electronic communication device while driving do not apply to the use of artificial intelligence smart glasses when using the electronic communication device in hands-free or voice-operated mode or when the vehicle is stopped due to normal traffic being obstructed and the driver has the motor vehicle transmission in neutral or park.”
Fines for violating the law start at $75 and increase to $150 for repeat offenses. Anyone involved in a serious crash while wearing smart glasses could face misdemeanor or felony charges.
On the one hand, the move feels like a no-brainer, since slapping a screen on your eyeballs is the definition of distracted driving. And given the direction some companies that sell smart glasses are headed, a no-brainer law like this could be critical.
Amazon, for example, is actively developing smart glasses that would superimpose navigation onto the eyes of its drivers as they drive. Even the Meta Ray-Ban Display has a navigation feature, and though Meta strongly suggests that you don’t use it in a vehicle, it also doesn’t stop you from doing so.
Even if the Illinois law is the only one of its kind, I wouldn’t be shocked to see more bans like this in the future, especially with Google, Samsung, and potentially Apple entering the category next year. If nothing else, the bill is one example of how smart glasses are ringing alarm bells across the country.
