Remember back in like, 2006, when texting cost about 10 cents per word so evry1 typd lyk dis to save money? Well, now a text message could cost you $50, or even 15 days of jail time, if you type it while walking and live in New Jersey.
A “distracted walking” law introduced by Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt would ban texting while walking and would require pedestrians to use hands-free attachments on their electronic devices.
“Distracted pedestrians, like distracted drivers, present a potential danger to themselves and drivers on the road,” Lampitt said.
Not to mention the risks they pose to fellow walkers, as any New Yorker who has fought through a Times Square sidewalk scrum of screen-staring, selfie-snapping tourists can tell you.
*insert eternal eyeroll*
We get it, distracted pedestrians are a pain. But are they more distracted than someone eating a ham and cheese croissant on their way to work? Or someone who spilled hot coffee down their shirt while walking? Someone wearing earbuds and listening to music while walking? Probably not. I'd say distracted pedestrians are annoying, at worst, but what else do we expect in a monochronic culture? Are we surprised that some people feel they need to reply to a text while they're walking somewhere? For some, the journey from point A to point B is their only downtime in a day.
Now, if someone is jaywalking while texting, that's something punishable that I can understand. I can see how pedestrians crossing the street at a location or time unexpected by drivers could be hazardous, especially if they aren't even paying attention.
But say a person is simply sending a text while walking down a sidewalk -- does that deserve this fine or jail time? Can we really equate something like this to distracted driving? Can running your body into someone or something at the pace of walking really do a comparable amount of damage on a comparable scale to that of driving vehicles?
In all reality, we should probably get our noses out of our phones while walking in a crowded area, but for the sake of the law? No. For the sake of common courtesy? Yes.
