Rochester, New York, Car Accidents And Smart Glasses

Jed Dietrich, Esq., a proud member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, Leads His Distinguished Team at the Dietrich Law Firm P.C., Recognized as an American Institute of Personal Injury Attorney’s Best Personal Injury Law Firm, to Provide the Highest Level of Personal Injury Service to Victims of Car Accidents caused by Smart Glasses in Rochester.

Smart glasses can simply be defined as wearable computers designed to add the functionality of smartphones into eyewear. Since the first public contact with smart glasses through Google Glasses in 2014, the rush to develop them has been on a steady rise. No doubt, smart glasses are some of the hottest gadgets in the frontier of wearable technology because of their capacity to enhance the user experience by connecting with the virtual world. Smart glasses come in various shapes and forms but share key features such as a microphone, camera, Global Positioning System (GPS), Bluetooth, video viewer, communication notification, information storage, gaming, and gyroscopic sensors, amongst others.

The features use the internet to allow users to access applications on their phones wirelessly. Some smart glasses execute basic tasks like playing music and making calls, while others are more sophisticated and can read texts, capture photos/videos and upload them, stream and display content, etc. They are controlled using voice commands, gesture recognition, or manually through single-press buttons. Their wireless nature makes them highly versatile and attractive, especially for drivers, but smart glasses are not always the smartest choice on the road. In Rochester, smart glasses can contribute to distracted driving – leading to both fatalities and injuries. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that 3,142 people were killed by distracted driving in a single year.

Should you get injured or lose a loved one in a smart glasses car accident, you will need a highly experienced and knowledgeable smart glasses car accident attorney to walk you through the complicated claim. Jed Dietrich, Esq. and his tenacious, aggressive, and hardworking team of Rochester car accident injury attorneys are always just a call away, ready to provide you with the best representation with years of legal expertise in litigating personal injury cases. The attorneys at the Dietrich Law Firm P.C. have built an admirable track record by dedicating their highly sought-after services to exclusively representing victims of serious injuries through negligence. In addition to walking with his clients every step of the way, Jed Dietrich, Esq. offers complimentary lawsuit evaluations and consultations. Our team is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at (585) 939-3939 or by filling out the online consultation form.

Although smart glasses provide the advantage of hands-free device operation while driving, they do not completely eradicate the limitations of operating devices behind the wheel. In fact, they can increase risk by giving drivers a false sense of safety. The simplicity of using smart glasses while driving can lead some drivers to attempt to multitask when they otherwise would not. Below are four main distractions associated with smart glasses:

1. Visual: Computer screens on smart glasses are projected into the corner of the eye. This can lead to binocular rivalry caused by digital content being overlaid on top of real-world content. Focusing on on-screen content can also shift focus from the road and cause inattention blindness and eye strain over long drives.
2. Auditory: Listening to the audio on smart glasses can substantially reduce awareness of a driver’s surroundings, especially if they are the noise-canceling type.
3. Manual: Even though hand use is minimal when using smart glasses, split seconds of hands off the wheel to press buttons can reduce reaction time in the case of an emergency.
4. Cognitive: Consuming information through smart glasses can capture the driver’s concentration, taking their attention away from their commute.

These distractions can occur individually or can be compounded by the interactive nature of smart glasses leading to life-threatening accidents. Smart glasses car accidents contribute to the nation’s yearly estimate of 424,000 victims injured by distracted driving.

Unlike common car accidents, smart glasses car accidents are relatively complicated. This is because smart glasses technology is still developing; hence there are no specific laws governing their usage on the road. It was only during the brief Google Glasses period that law-making bodies tried to come up with bills that would regulate the use of smart glasses. However, since Google Glasses left the market in 2015, there has been little to no progress, even though companies continue to develop smart glasses. Facebook, for instance, in partnership with Ray-Ban, developed Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses that are designed to take photos and videos that can be directly uploaded to social media channels. Using social media in such a manner while driving can be extremely perilous, yet there is no specific law in Rochester to prevent it. It should be noted that the Distracted Driving Prevention Act 2009 was amended way before smart glasses came into the picture and thus do not feature in it.

There are loopholes in the Rochester hands-free device usage laws that seem to encourage the risky use of smart glasses. Similarly, proving that a driver who causes an accident using smart glasses did so negligently can be difficult. Without express liability for smart glasses car accidents, victims of Rochester smart glasses car accidents face numerous challenges navigating their way to justice. Fortunately, the Dietrich Law Firm P.C. in Rochester offers free consultations to smart glasses car accident injury victims. While no amount can sufficiently compensate for the pain, trauma, and loss arising from negligence by a driver using smart glasses, winning your claim against a reckless driver goes a long way in aiding your recovery. Let our award-winning lawyers fight for you!

Call the Dietrich Law Firm P.C. immediately at (585) 939-3939 so that our aggressive, tenacious and hardworking personal injury lawyers can fight to obtain the best result for your personal injury claim in Rochester, New York. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and there is never a fee until we WIN for you!