Google’s ongoing self-driving car project has recorded more than 1.2 million miles of autonomous driving so far and like most drivers it’s picked up a few interesting stories. Today, the Google self-driving car team shared a post on Google+ showing that one of its cars had been pulled over while driving though California.
This neat infographic from visual.ly explains Google’s plans for self driving cars. The diagram details that cars will be have a soft foam front to cushion impact if it hits a pedestrian, a laser sensor with 360 degree view, front windshield made of plastic rather than glass, and much, much, more.
Check out the full graphic from the source right here.
The Associated Press reports that a California woman who was ticketed for driving while wearing her Google Glass has had her charges thrown out by the San Diego police commissioner. According to the report, the woman’s charge did not hold up against the language of the current law because it couldn’t be proven that the device was powered on at the time.
The court didn’t necessarily rule that it’s legal to wear Glass while driving, and the commissioner said there’s a chance the law could be interpreted to cover Glass as a TV-like system, which would move the device from the gray area it’s currently in and make using Glass while driving illegal. There’s no word yet on how the law would apply to a smart contact lens.
While wearing a heads-up display and driving might not be the best idea, or even legal in some locations, the developers behind DriveSafe are doing their part to counter that.
Using the sensors available on Google Glass, the Glass app will present a prompt to you if it determines you could be nodding off at the wheel. Of course driving while on the verge of falling asleep is extremely dangerous on its own, so DriveSafe goes a step further and uses voice input to help you find a safe place to stop and refresh yourself before getting back on the road.
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The legality of driving while wearing Google Glass appears set to face its first test after Glass Explorer Cecilia Abade was ticketed by a California cop.
A cop just stopped me and gave me a ticket for wearing Google Glass while driving!
The exact line says: Driving with Monitor visible to Driver (Google Glass). Is #GoogleGlass illgal while driving or is this cop wrong???
Any legal advice is appreciated!! This happened in California. Do you know any other #GlassExplorers that got a similar ticket anywhere in the US?
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(Cross-posted on 9to5Mac.com)
Bud Tribble, Apple’s long-time vice president of software engineering, testified before a US Senate subcommittee yesterday alongside Google’s US director of public policy Alan Davidson. The two executives fielded questions from Senators related to privacy issues and the practice of location data gathering via mobile devices running iOS and Android software.
Senator Charles Schumer said he was having issues with apps like Buzz’d and Fuzz Alert and expressed his disappointment that neither Apple nor Google pulled down those programs yet, even though RIM did. He suggested Google looks “narrowly” at third-party programs which help avoid police DUI checkpoints.
You agree that it is a terrible thing, and it probably causes death.
Challenged by Senator Schumer, Apple’s Tribble said his company is “looking into” the legality of DUI apps.
We’re in the process of looking into it — we have a policy that we don’t allow apps that encourage illegal activity. If the apps intent is to encourage people to break the law, then we will pull it. I will take that back.
Both Apple and Google have been asked to provide more detailed answers within 30 days, This is my next reported. Makes you wonder what’s next – going after benign programs that assess your driving skills?
