More than half of all states in the USA have distracted driving laws that either prohibit texting while driving or limit smartphone usage to hands-free mode when behind the wheel. With smart glasses on the rise, some states are looking to lump these wearable gadgets in with the same handset restrictions, and Democrat stronghold Illinois is poised to be the first to limit smart glasses on the road under House Bill 4843.
Distracted driving is a notable problem in the United States. According to the latest stats from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 315,167 people were injured in distracted driving cases and 3,208 were killed in 2024. These numbers are in spite of distracted driving laws that already exist in most states today.
The bill is waiting to be signed by Gov. Pritzker.
Still, Democrats love to add laws to the books, and this one is no different. Sponsored by Illinois state Reps. Michael J. Kelly (D) and Angelica Guerrero-Cuellar (D) and Illinois state Sen. Ram Villivalam (D), House Bill 4843 serves as an amendment to the Illinois Vehicle Code.
The bill includes a number of various changes; chief among them, however, is the addition of two new device categories that fall on the distracted driving list.
The longer arm of the law
The first is AI pins. While these aren’t widely popular yet, AI pins are wearable gadgets — which are usually clipped to a shirt or worn around the neck on a pendant or on a band around the wrist — that come packed with generative AI built in. These devices are typically used to record, save, and analyze conversations, such as work meetings, phone calls, or conversations with friends.
These devices are almost always display-free, making them a dubious choice for a distracted driving bill. I’m finding a hard time seeing how AI pins could divert a driver’s attention from the road or why drivers would use one in their car in the first place, but perhaps Illinois is just covering its bases in case AI pins suddenly gain new distraction-worthy features in the future. For now, these aren’t that big of a problem for anyone on the road.
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The second device category in the bill includes smart glasses. This is a tricky segment, because there are several different types of smart glasses, some of which pose a bigger threat to drivers than others:
- AI smart glasses, like the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2, are equipped with cameras for the glasses to see what you see and record footage, as well as a microphone and speakers for audio and voice commands. These do not have a heads-up display that could block the driver’s view or divert their attention while operating a vehicle.
- Heads-up-display smart glasses, like the Meta Ray-Ban Display, do come with a display embedded directly in the lenses. HUD glasses can display different types of information directly in your line of sight, such as messages and notifications, potentially causing all kinds of distractions that could get drivers into trouble on the road. While these glasses pose a bigger driver threat and could possibly warrant a ticket if caught using them behind the wheel, they aren’t as widely available for purchase quite yet.
- Finally, AR/VR glasses and goggles use embedded displays to change the world you see in front of you or put you into a different digital world entirely. These types of glasses obviously have the largest distraction potential, and they shouldn’t be used inside a motor vehicle.
According to the bill, smart glasses of all kinds (it doesn’t call out any specific type, so we can assume that all fall into this category) and AI pins will be restricted to hands-free usage while driving. These devices can also be used when the vehicle is stopped and in neutral or park. Otherwise, drivers are prohibited from engaging with these gadgets, just like their smartphones.
House Bill 4843 is currently waiting to be signed by Illinois Democrat Gov. JB Pritzker. Illinois is the first state to pursue this legislation, but other state lawmakers will likely hop on board if and when smart glasses grow in popularity.
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