Google Glass has yet to hit the market but people are already lobbying against it.  Earlier in March,  the 5 Point Cafe in Seattle declared that Google Glass will not be allowed in the premises to protect the identity if their patrons.  Now, West Virginia is trying to pass a bill (H.B. 3057) that would prevent drivers from wearing Google Glass while behind the wheel of a moving vehicle.

Gary G. Howell, a Republican in the West Virginia Legislature, wrote Chris Matyszczyk of CNET informing him that the creation of the bill was inspired by one of Matyszczyk’s Google Glass articles.

According to Howell, the bill is extending the West Virginia law that makes texting and driving illegal.  They’re just making sure that teens, who are less experienced drivers, can’t drive while wearing the said spectacles to prevent fatal road accidents.  But don’t get him wrong, he supports Google Glass, just not the fact that teen drivers wearing them.

“I actually like the idea of the product and I believe it is the future, but last legislature we worked long and hard on a no-texting-and-driving law. It is mostly the young that are the tech-savvy that try new things,” Howell said.  “They are also our most vulnerable and underskilled drivers. We heard of many crashes caused by texting and driving, most involving our youngest drivers. I see the Google Glass as an extension.”

Matyszczyk pointed out a valid flaw in Howell’s argument: Google Glass costs $1,500.  Though teens are the ones to embrace the latest gadgets that come out, I doubt that there will be a lot of teenagers who can afford the $1,500 glasses.  Also, I doubt that reasonable parents would buy their teens $1,500 glasses that can easily broken when someone sits on it, misplaced, or left at a restaurant table.

Another funny thing is, Howell wants to restrict the use of Google Glass–an innocent object, even before it comes out–when West Virginia has virtually no gun laws.  You can purchase a firearm without a permit, you don’t need to have the weapon registered, you can openly carry a handgun. no Assault Weapon law, and the owner doesn’t need to be licensed gun owner to purchase or carry a gun.

Howell points out that if he wears Google Glass and drive, he can deliver harm to other motorists because he wasn’t paying attention on the road.  That’s an interesting point, since using a gun, firing it in the air, could also harm others because of a stray bullet.

Matyszczyk also quipped that in Googleworld, drivers shouldn’t have to worry about getting in accidents while wearing Google Glass because the Google driverless car will get you from point A to B without any hassle.