Honolulu Targets 'Smartphone Zombies' With Crosswalk Ban (reuters.com)

Templer421 shares news from Reuters: 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 U.S. 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 Oct. 25, 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... People making calls for emergency services are exempt from the ban... Opponents of the Honolulu law argued it infringes on personal freedom and amounts to government overreach.
Meanwhile, the city of London has tried putting pads on their lamp posts "to soften the blow for distracted walkers."

Comments

Maybe I am an asshole but

[Baron_Yam]

If you can't pull your eyes away from your phone long enough to safely cross a street... whoever hits you is helping Darwin and they're the one and only person getting my sympathy.

Legislation SHOULD be passed... freeing the motorist from liability.

Re:Maybe I am an asshole but

[TheRaven64]

The goal is to protect the motorist. Even if the pedestrian completely deserved to be removed from the gene pool, accidentally killing someone who walks into the street is quite traumatic and the idiots looking at their phones shouldn't have the right to inflict that on a random stranger.

Re:Maybe I am an asshole but

[LynnwoodRooster]

We also need to aggressively prosecute bikers and peds who violate traffic laws. Crossing against lights, holding up traffic, changing lanes without signalling, etc... Right?

Football CTE effect

[Solandri]

Meanwhile, the city of London has tried putting pads on their lamp posts "to soften the blow for distracted walkers."

In response to American football players being injured, they developed better helmet technology to soften the blow. This resulted in football players hitting each other harder, which we now suspect has led to endemic CTE among football players.

The more effective solution would be to electrify the lamp posts so they give you a safe but unpleasant shock if you walk into them (since apparently the blow isn't enough to discourage people from not watching where they are going). OTOH, if you wish to accept that people are going to text while on the sidewalk but wish to avoid collisions, the better solution is a moving walkway.

Better idea.

[Gravis Zero]

Instead of a monetary penalty, just close their most active social media account each time they get caught. ;)

So, I guess I get to feel old today

[Cardcaptor_RLH85]

When I was a kid, before pre-teens had cell phones, I read books while walking home from school. I had a number of close calls with vehicles when crossing streets while reading Asimov or Clarke. I almost want to take a trip to Honolulu with a few paperbacks just to publicly mock the fact that this legislation doesn't actually fix the problem it tries to fix.

Sounds like a video game

[fahrbot-bot]

Smartphone Zombies

Drivers get points added for hitting pedestrians on phones, points subtracted for hitting those without.