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THE DEPARTMENT OF Transport could be set to follow the lead of the UK in issuing a ban on drivers wearing the new Google Glass product before it is launched to the public next year.
The new wearable technology is currently being trialed by Google with a small number of developers testing the glasses which provide smartphone-like information in handsfree format via voice commands.
Already, the government in the UK has this week indicated that it will seek to ban the use of technology on the roads there, issuing penalty points to those who are in breach of the ban.
Only a small number of people the UK are thought to be currently using the device. It is not known if any Irish developers have the glasses though a number have tested them in recent months.
In response to a query from TheJournal.ie, the Department of Transport here said that it is concerned about the use of the new technology.
A spokesperson said: “The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport considers all such issues in terms of their impact on road safety.
“The Department is concerned that the use of this technology in its current form would distract motorists and therefore could represent a safety hazard.”
It said it is now in consultation with the Road Safety Authority, gardaí and “other key stakeholders” ahead of issuing a formal policy decision.
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Driving requires complete focus and concentration. Anyone who hasn’t the intelligence to grasp this shouldn’t have a licence
Quite agree, spotted someone eating a pizza while driving yesterday. Are we living so much in the fast lane, that we can’t stop off for 15 minutes to eat a meal?
So you would like to ban all woman from the road then?
This in nuts. We’ll laugh at the backwardness of this ban in the Years ahead. Already in use in military systems head up displays will be the future of driving cars too. Apps specifically for aiding drivers will prevent millions of road deaths.
Who mentioned banning women off roads, statically we’re better drivers
Statistically maybe, but statically we’re all the same…..
That’s because statically you’re not moving.
There are lies, damn lies and statistics
In exchange for a license women should be forced to hand over their make up bag and their phone.
@ned I see plenty male drivers using phone while driving so gonna hand over your to?
Linda where are all the female truck drivers. I dont disagree that women are better drivers but the statistics argument is quiet vague. I have been driving trucks for twenty years all over Europe & beyond & female drivers are still rare. This would suggest that men are doing the most of the driving which of coarse does not do your statistics any favour.
@mjhint the article was never bout female drivers but one or 2 male chauvinists decided to make it so, just cos your a truck driver don’t go talkin down to me, I’ve been driving 15yrs only one accident in that time when a male truck driver ran into me, but I won’t tar all truck drivers just cos of one incident….so its unfair to say women are bad drivers just cos we don’t get hard on from revving our engines or seeing how fast we can go thinking we’re on a F1 track
I have been driving 20 years & do between 120k kms & 150k kms a year & i have had a number of accidents although none serious so your suggestion is your a better driver than I am. My only arguement is you use statistics to justify your position & I have pointed out that its not accurate as males do more driving. Its not an anti woman stance as I did say women maybe safer drivers. Your argument is a strawman. Oh dear should that be straw person.
Haha. I admire your dynamism, Ade.
But you guys cause more crashes! Pet hate, woman combing hair in the morning fixing their make up! Get up 5 mins earlier! Dumbasses! Oh and just because you put your indicator on does not give you the right to move lane ya do so when safe!
Firstly why are u makin this all bout you, if u read that again I never said I was a better driver than u, how do I kno how u drive? Same as u don’t kno how I drive, my dad and bro and uncle are all truck drivers and don’t slate women drivers. Secondly I didn’t do the statistics and yes I did use it, there are as many female drivers now as males just cos we don’t drive trucks means nothing, whether ur male or female driving takes concentration which is what the article is about
So was it a woman that caused and killed those 2 poor boys in Donegal last nyt?? I think not. I agree wit u on combing hair and applying make up but I’m not one of those woman so don’t make us out to be all the same
Linda you’ve made a big deal out of a lighthearted joke. Get back to bed there.
Well Alan ur entitled to ur opinion as am I
Yeah but how can you limit it to driver specific apps? Most people will end up going through Facebook or Twitter posts or god knows what else, definitely not safe, military heads up displays are designed for one purpose and contain info a normal driver has no need for, better off keeping concentration on the road.
Completely agree gingerman
- sent from my iPhone while driving
This is not years ahead, this is now.
My comment was to Sean Hyland
Your a miss daisy driver thats coming from another woman! But statistically how much women are distracted on the road with the kids in the back fightin dunno how many a these near crashes ive seen or how often a woman can look before changin lanes rare! Now sayin that a block did the same. Nothing wrong with wanting to see what we get out of our cars. Just shows weve an interst in them compared its just to get from a t b. Some women are lethal on the road and should not be handed a license.
Well grainne as I said everyone entitled to their opinion
Do we really have to copy everything the English government do? We where banning porn last week because England are banning it, this week it’s the google glasses. Can we not make up our own minds? What’s next?
Should we allow dangerous road habits just because they’re banned in the uk? Sounds like you let UK govwrnment decusions influence you too much.
Padraig the rsa are being trained by vosa which is the UK authority for road safety. If i phone the rsa about tacograph legislation they will send me an email which is always cut & paste from the bosa website. All road legislation is copied from the UK & the new rules for HGV maintenance is an exact copy of vosa legislation. Our gardai are also getting training in traffic law that is copied from the Uk. To answer we have to copy the UK because our authorities do not have these skills.
Mj,I travel around the uk regular and even though the motorways are busier I feel much safer,that m50 we have here is a death trap and I am not necessarily talking about the drivers on it,it’s design was incredibly badly thought out.
I agree Martin Im here today & the motorways in some places are safer. In my view its not the police that have created this but the British public themselves as they have a better understanding of road craft & tolerance.
Well than maybe we should be governed by England
There are also some states in the US considering whether to ban it too. Technically we are copying those too. So maybe that will cheer you up a bit Pàdraig! Or is it just the UK you have the problem with?
I wonder what the stats are on road deaths on the M50…
@AgressiveSecularist. Yes we should follow UK traffic law on lane hogging, by slapping a €120 fine and two penalty points.
The usual silliness. Ban everything but police nothing eg mobile phone ban while driving. A joke.
On a side note , If people with smartphones are being targeted by criminals on the streets then imaging what the people with google glass are setting themselves up for .
Ahh but the google glass can record your attacker and send the video to your cloud storage. It can also give you an early warning of any attack kinda like a “spidey-sense”.
Genius technology.
Fair enough , basically it’s woman you’ll be wearing so .. It will know where everything is and remember everything to use against you for future evidence …
You’re more likely to get arrested for crime against fashion methinks. Who is actually going to wear a pair of google glasses, be honest now please. It’s another google PR trick to keep themselves in the news just like their pilotless car. The Germans were doing that yrs ago.
This is a good thing
Did they forget the brown envelope or what?
No. I think a certain fruity named company didn’t forget.
Stupid people need to get off this planet! Heads up displays HUD are the future in vehicle diagnostics not analog clocks. There isn’t a military vehicle being designed that doesn’t use one. All for the purpose of not distracting the driver/pilot from primary objective of driving or flying. How the display is put in your field of vision is irrelevant. Google glass will be a glorified sat nav for most people just displayed in a safer manner for the user.
Yeah or watching f**ckin YouTube cat videos and texting.
You can’t compare military to civilian. What military land vehicle uses HUD while driving at 90km/h on a 2 lane road with other military vehicles going at the same speed in both directions….
You can currently use a Sat nav or your phone for navigation which requires you to take your focus from the road. As stated by others here a HUD is safer because it overlays information while you maintain your view of the road.
If they ban Google glass they should ban standard sat nav too.
Sat nav doesn’t play keyboard cat videos though
I Will be gob-smacked If the Google Glass isn’t band on Irish roads. Anyone with any knowledge of the product knows it would be a major hazard!
You obviously don’t have much knowledge of HUD.
If HUD was so safe Alan wouldn’t it be in all cars by now on the windscreen?
In some newer models it is.
In 5 years time it’ll be the norm.
Any of up who are driving have seen high usage of mobile phones – already banned and carry points for mis use. Considering this can not seem to be policed how could these glasses – they would be probably impossible to distinguish at any distance , the users would simply look like they were wearing spectacles.
Some Peugeot have the option for a Head Up Display, should that be banned also?
Based on my driving experiences between Slane and Navan; it would record some of the madness I have seen, experienced and escaped from! I say trial them with a focus to highlighting bad driving!
In Slane a driver drove on the wrong side of the road in to the main junction of that town and could have caused themselves, their family and me a whole lot of hurt! Yet the driver gestured at myself?
Women are better behind a pramb lol
‘pram’. And no.
Pramb…. Haha !! That made me laugh….. The b is silent so? Cos your a big B
25 today so I am! Ye big hamb!
At the end of the day, it’s companies such as Google who pay the salaries of these government busy-bodies.
Yeah great point lets allow any company contributing to our economy do as they please! That’ll end well!
I think all our legislators can do is look at the UK and copy their decisions.
Google class is a hands free set. A simple phone conversation can prove distracting hands free or not, if not take. Seriously.
Google glass has not arrived here, there’s zero evidence it would cause a crash, the government has no idea what they are on about.
Have any of these people considering banning them actually used them!
Safety is the excuse.The expansion of sousveillance is what they really don’t like.
My phone has turn by turn navigation with spoken directions and if I know a shortcut it will adjust the direction to my GPS signal. So I never have to take my eye off yhecroad. How cool is that?
I dont think ive ever seen an irish person wear these glasses.2
So if the iron man suit were available it would be banned from roads because it has a HUD? And would be a distraction?
Im waiting for google bifocals.
I always smile at (and avoid) the people who drive with a sat nav stuck right smack in their line of vision on the front window
Very impressed by the forward thinking here.
Any chance our Departments would deal with problems before they arise?
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