Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should
Mar 25, 2013, 7:52 PM | Updated: 7:52 pm
Look, I struggle with the idea of more government regulation and infringements upon liberty, but something has to be done!
Technology is moving forward at a pace that people could have never imagined. And that technology is expected to be with us and available 24/7, like the new Google Glass project which is basically a computer built into eye glasses that you control with eye movements.
Yeah, they got that.
But just because you can now wear glasses that allow you to surf the web, watch videos and update your Facebook status doesn’t mean you should be able to do this WHILE DRIVING! Yup, it’s come to this where the distractions are no longer on the dashboard or involve your cell phone, but would be right there. In front of your eyes. Projected onto your eye glasses! I mean, who needs to pay attention to the road in front of you when with a few blinks you can read your e-mail while tooling down the I-10 at 70 mph?
Sadly, we humans, when left to our own devices, rarely know what’s good for us and have an amazing ability to ignore risk when it’s right in front of our faces.
Literally and figuratively.
More than 30,000 Americans have died in the past 10 years because of texting and driving and with new technology like Google Glass, expect that number to soar. And before you argue some nonsense about having a “heads-up display” for your GPS beamed onto your glasses and how it will reduce distractions, I would ask, “Do you trust the driver next to you to use technology like this safely?”
Bans, fines and laws have proven to be ineffective so far and I really think that it will take a public backlash against distracted drivers to turn the tide. I am reminded about the push to make drunk driving uncool and how long it took before your friends were snatching your car keys out of your hands on Saturday night.
Does this mean I will have to slap the glasses of my friends’ faces before they get behind the wheel and it will be OK to do it?
