California court dismisses Google Glass driving case

  

A woman who wore a Google Glass device while driving was on Thursday cleared of traffic offences by a California court, after prosecutors failed to prove she was using it, a news report said.

Cecile Abadie was wearing the eyeglass-mounted computer when she was stopped by police in October and charged with violating a code that prohibits the operation of a video or TV screen while driving.

Her lawyer said it was not activated at the time, and the court ruled that it was impossible to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the eyeglass computer had been on, Computerworld.com reported.

But the court added that the Google Glass does count as a video screen under state law, which makes it illegal to have an activated one in view of the driver, except a GPS terminal.

It was the first prominent case of its kind in the US, where over 30,000 people have already bought the mini-computer, expected to go on general sale this year.