Why not ban using cell phones, radios, talking to the person next to you — anything that interferes with you walking across the street? Yeah, it may be a problem, but do we need this kind of micromanaging of our lives?
Bill Banning iPods In Crosswalks Slated For Albany
First it was cell phones in cars, then trans fats. Now, a new plan is on the table to ban gadget use while crossing city streets.
We all seem to have one — an iPod, a BlackBerry, a cell phone — taking up more and more of our time, but can they make us too distracted to walk safely? Some people think so.
If you use them in the crosswalk, your favorite electronic devices could be in the crosshairs.
Legislation will be introduced in Albany on Wednesday to lay a $100 fine on pedestrians succumbing to what State Sen. Carl Kruger calls iPod oblivion.
“We’re talking about people walking sort of tuned in and in the process of being tuned in, tuned out,” Kruger said. “Tuned out to the world around them. They’re walking into speeding cars. They’re walking into buses. They’re walking into one another and it’s creating a number of fatalities that have been documented right here in the city.”
Banning cell phones would step on to many toes! If the ones making the laws can’t abide, they tend to shy away.
Inevitable as it was, I thought it would take longer for the jump from bans on smoking to transfats to… this.
I’ve always believed in letting people – so long as they don’t endanger innocent others in the process – act out their stupidity. Let natural selection operate unfettered. The majority of humankind will be better off.
Beside the unAmerican infringement on freedom and arrogation of personal responsibility, another issue with nanny-state “protection” from one’s own choices and actions is how it breeds a false sense of security into the sheeple; “It must be OK, otherwise it would be illegal.” That attitude only promotes even more acting w/out thinking.
Isn’t this a dupe story?
But I’ll repeat what I said there. Does this mean that deaf people are also banned from using a crosswalk? They can’t hear anything, and what if one or two deaf people crossing the cross-walk are day-dreaming? Wouldn’t that put them exactly in the same situation as what this law is talking about?
This is just another example of politicians taking on the easy road to make it look like they’re earning their paycheck. OMG I’m getting really sick of this B.S. with politicians wasting my time and tax dollars on nonsense like this. Meanwhile they continue to use the Police as a revenue stream and not law enforcement. This law isn’t about safety it’s about money. And what do you do with folks who aren’t carrying any ID? I’m also afraid as to what may come next… a law that prohibits chewing gum while walking?
Deaf people are aware of their hearing loss and compensate with more caution. As far as the Darwinian approach, I don’t want to live with the consequences of running into and killing or maiming an idiot who was so into their tunes they failed to see the Do Not Walk or hear the horns. I love tech, but not when it endangers users or others. Time and a place…
Really…ALL deaf people are more cautious?
People with sight, hearing and no cell phones or iPods or anything are STILL hit at crosswalks all the time. People get distracted over anything and everything. The guy looking behind them at the hot girl walking by is distracted. The girl checking out the tight jeans of a guy walking by is distracted. A car lover seeing a rare vintage auto is distracted. Being distracted by anything is part of being human.
I am a cycle commuter in a major city and I am so surprised their aren’t more pedestrian fatalities given the fact that pedestrians crossing streets and doing so against the light are generally talking on their cell phones or listening to their i pods while looking down at the pavement and paying no attention to what is coming towards them- basically expecting someone else to be responsible for their well being. Hey, if you’re on your cell or listening to your i pod while crossing against a light, it’s open season on your ass. Hitting pedestrians who are paying no attention at all while crossing a street should become an urban sport.
#4: Yes, my bad. I’m on the road for work and sometimes have a hard time getting to read what’s been posted much less post new stuff. Have to stop working so much!!
Well, you’d have to ban “tuning out” in general. I happen to be able to listen to my iPod and be fully aware of what’s going on around me. in fact, I am more likely to “tune out” my surroundings if I am walking without listening to something as I will quickly get bored then lost in my thoughts.
I bet Kruger rarely WALKS anywhere, much less while listening to an iPod. Maybe he should give it a try.
Oh, and if iPods are too distracting while walking, then by the same bad logic, radios are too distracting while driving – we have to remove radios from cars.
#8 – this must be a problem with whatever city you live in (why say “major city”? You sound like people on game shows who work for a “major parts distributer” – just name the darn city. I bet it is Fargo or something like that eh?).
Anyway, I live in DC (another walking city) and rarely see pedestrians acting irresponsibility. We wait for the white light then move across as a herd. The only problem is cars that sometimes try to push through the crowd, but this is rare and the car usually is from out of the area (read: full of tourists who are from cities where nobody walks anywhere for fear of becoming less obese).
‘Deaf people are aware of their hearing loss and compensate with more caution’.
Gee, I didn’t know I had special powers. Superman, move over, there’s a new kid in town.
I’m also afraid as to what may come next… a law that prohibits chewing gum while walking?
Probably. Why should everyone else be allowed to do something THE DECIDER can’t do?
J/P=?
cant we just tax breathing? or a tax based on the # of bpm you heart makes, or something equally ridiculous?
#9, Uncle Dave, didn’t Aunt Martha give you grief about reading your laptop and driving at the same time? Geeze Unc, you’re going to end up spilling your latte if you hit one of those morons listening to their iPod. Pay Attention !!!