Skip to footer

Texting and walking? Proposed New Jersey law says no

Distracted walking may finally have its moment in the sun, at least in the Garden State.

|
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP/File
A pedestrians text messages while crossing the street in downtown Washington (July 10, 2012). A New Jersey lawmaker is targeting distracted walking. The proposed measure would ban walking while texting and bar pedestrians on public roads from using electronic devices unless they are hands-free.

Over the past several years, we've spilled a fair amount of virtual ink on the subject of distracted driving and its effect on the nation's traffic fatality rate. What we haven't discussed very often is the subject of distracted walking, which many blame for an uptick in pedestrian fatalities.

But distracted walking may finally have its moment in the sun. A member of the New Jersey Assembly is sponsoring legislation that would make it a crime to text while walking. The key text of the short bill says:

"The use of a wireless telephone or electronic communication device by a pedestrian on a public roadway shall be unlawful except when the telephone is a hands-free wireless telephone or the electronic communication device is used hands-free."

If enacted, the Pedestrian Safety Act would fine violators up to $50 per infraction, with half of that sum allocated to public education programs about the dangers of distracted walking. The bill's sponsor, Assemblywoman Pamela R. Lampitt, notes that the fine is on par with that for jaywalkers.

The bill makes a few exceptions for using handheld devices--for example, when the pedestrian's life is in danger or when the pedestrian needs to report an emergency like a fire or traffic accident.

Our take

There's little doubt that the Pedestrian Safety Act is well-intentioned. A recent report from the National Safety Council says that distracted walking caused more than 11,000 injuries between 2000 and 2011. The majority of those--52 percent--happened at home, not along roadways, but still, it's hard to argue that mobile phones don't pose a distraction risk.

That said, Lampitt's bill may not stand much chance of passing. Similar legislation has been proposed in other states like Arkansas, Illinois, Nevada, and New York, but all have failed. To date, no state has been able to pass a law that targets distracted pedestrians.

Maybe that's because some lawmakers see bills like this as overreaching, fostering a "nanny state". Others may not believe that such laws can be enforced. And still others worry that, like other laws for petty offenses (e.g. loitering, blocking a sidewalk), distracted walking laws could be misused if not applied uniformly.

This article first appeared in The Car Connection.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Texting and walking? Proposed New Jersey law says no
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/In-Gear/2016/0408/Texting-and-walking-Proposed-New-Jersey-law-says-no
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe