Cecilia Abadie made history last October when she became the first person in the world to receive any kind of legal sanction for wearing Google Glass. Now she's made history again — a San Diego court cleared her of the ticket in question.
Abadie was wearing the reality-augmenting eyewear when she was stopped for speeding on the evening of Oct. 29. The California highway patrolman who pulled her over added a second charge to the moving violation: "Driving with monitor visible to driver (Google Glass)."
See also: Google Glass: I’m Not Winking at You, Just Taking Your Picture
The officer was on shaky legal ground, however. The only way you can make such a charge stick under the California Vehicle Code is if you can prove that the monitor was actually on. Abadie swears her Google Glass was off; it just happened to be still on her face.
Abadie was intent on wearing Google Glass to court:
Cecilia Abadie heads to traffic court to testify against Google Glass citation while driving. #NBC7 pic.twitter.com/KRKeVjnXpB
— Omari Fleming (@OmariNBCSD) January 16, 2014
There was no proof the device was on, ruled Commissioner John Blair of San Diego traffic court. Abadie's ticket, as minor as it was, was widely seen as a test case for the viability of Google Glass.
Glass Explorers, that handful of early adopters, can now feel free to drive with their devices — at least in California. But that still leaves safety concerns unanswered.
Because if a driver ever did have her eyewear turned on, for driving directions, let's say, it would be simplicity itself to turn the device off via voice command before any officer was able to approach your vehicle. No charge could ever be proven.
That means it's all up to Explorers to drive responsibly — and the California state legislature in Sacramento to decide if new laws are needed to ensure they do.
Abadie, for her part, was careful to clarify her lack of recklessness in the wake of victory. Here's her first tweet:
"@johnrlamb: @SDuncovered @cabadie Think she's driving around, reading all her press coverage? ;)" my sister is driving I read
— Cecilia Abadie (@cabadie) January 17, 2014