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Eugene

(61,595 posts)
Sat Jul 29, 2017, 12:53 PM Jul 2017

Hawaii law targets 'smartphone zombies' with crosswalk ban

Source: Reuters

Hawaii law targets 'smartphone zombies' with crosswalk ban

Reuters
Saturday 29 July 2017 00.12 BST

A ban on pedestrians looking at mobile phones or texting while crossing the street will take effect in Hawaii’s largest city in late October, as Honolulu becomes the first major US city to pass legislation aimed at reducing injuries and deaths from “distracted walking”.

The ban comes as cities around the world grapple with how to protect phone-obsessed “smartphone zombies” from injuring themselves by stepping into traffic or running into stationary objects.

Starting 25 October, Honolulu pedestrians can be fined between $15 and $99, depending on the number of times police catch them looking at a phone or tablet device as they cross the street, Mayor Kirk Caldwell told reporters gathered near one of the city’s busiest downtown intersections on Thursday.

“We hold the unfortunate distinction of being a major city with more pedestrians being hit in crosswalks, particularly our seniors, than almost any other city in the county,” Caldwell said. Honolulu data on distracted-walking incidents was not immediately available.

-snip-


Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jul/28/hawaii-law-targets-smartphone-zombies-with-crosswalk-ban
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Hawaii law targets 'smartphone zombies' with crosswalk ban (Original Post) Eugene Jul 2017 OP
Good idea! csziggy Jul 2017 #1
Bad idea - too much government regulation. HeartachesNhangovers Jul 2017 #2
I don't want to clean you off my grill... lame54 Jul 2017 #3
This is a "crosswalk ban". Pedestrians already have the HeartachesNhangovers Jul 2017 #4
I'm sure it applies to street lights as well... lame54 Jul 2017 #5
It's not unconditional. Igel Jul 2017 #6
And while we're at it gratuitous Jul 2017 #7
Now you're being ridiculous. Vehicle codes have HeartachesNhangovers Jul 2017 #8

csziggy

(34,120 posts)
1. Good idea!
Sat Jul 29, 2017, 01:02 PM
Jul 2017

I fell the other day while using my phone. Actually, all I was doing was disconnecting a call. I had to drop my car off at the mechanic and when I came out didn't see my husband in his car. I started to call him, saw him driving towards me, started walking towards him while disconnecting, stepped in a hole and went down. Fortunately it was on grass and I didn't turn my ankle.

But it could have been much more serious. Lesson learned - my phone will only be in operation while I am standing still, whether on my own two feet or in the car!

2. Bad idea - too much government regulation.
Sat Jul 29, 2017, 02:06 PM
Jul 2017

If people don't care enough about their own lives to look up from their phones, then so be it.

4. This is a "crosswalk ban". Pedestrians already have the
Sat Jul 29, 2017, 03:12 PM
Jul 2017

right-of-way in crosswalks. If you have to clean a cross-walking pedestrian off your grill then maybe you should slow down and pay attention.

lame54

(35,139 posts)
5. I'm sure it applies to street lights as well...
Sat Jul 29, 2017, 03:18 PM
Jul 2017

Where one has to pay attention and wait there turn

Besides you should always cross defensively and at full alert

Igel

(35,197 posts)
6. It's not unconditional.
Sat Jul 29, 2017, 06:28 PM
Jul 2017

It has to be reasonable. Pedestrians are often responsible for crosswalk accidents--they cross against the light, for example.

There are instances where the pedestrian shares blame but legally it's all on the driver. You see a big right barreling down on the intersection and it's clear he's going to run the red light or he doesn't see you or is ignoring you and you walk, you're an idiot. The law does not protect you from being the big rig's crumple zone.

Same for mid-block crosswalks that aren't signed. If a driver's not expecting it, if a driver's not expecting you to suddenly turn and step, nobody's going to say, "But the law says ..."

These are all common sense. There are nice videos of people staring at their phones and falling into holes, fountains, down steps, up steps; walking into windows, planters, signs, trash cans. And there are grim videos of people suddenly turning and stepping into crosswalks only to be nailed by drivers who didn't stop because somebody was walking on the sidewalk. Or didn't stop when a person walked into oncoming traffic.

Driving and pedestrian safety rules are built on common sense.

Smart phones suck all the common sense out of their wielders.

So also book-reading, earphones, movie watching, eating Chik-fil-A, giving oneself a sponge bath, plucking eyebrows, curling hair, having sex alone or with others. But right now, cell phones are the most common common-sense removal device while walking on sidewalks or driving. Remember the girl who tried to clock her speed on Instagram with a selfie? Crashed, hit a car with a family in it and then as the EMTs wheeled her battered bloodied body to the ambulance Instagrammed "I survived"? Yeah. Her phone consumed all her common sense. I wonder whatever happened to her family's disposable income.

gratuitous

(82,849 posts)
7. And while we're at it
Sat Jul 29, 2017, 06:47 PM
Jul 2017

Do we really need a law telling drivers to drive on the right side of the road? Everybody knows you're supposed to drive on the right, why do we need another overreaching government regulation that clogs up the law books with a bunch of unnecessary stuff, you know?

8. Now you're being ridiculous. Vehicle codes have
Sat Jul 29, 2017, 07:34 PM
Jul 2017

established the basic requirements for safe driving for decades. Pedestrians have been given significant, common-sense protections for decades, with the reasonable understanding that parents will control and protect their small children and that adults will act like adults who want to preserve their lives. Now, we suddenly need to fine pedestrians for looking at their phones in a crosswalk? B.S.! Too much!

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