[DwightShrute]

I watched this on a new show and they were talking about people walking into light poles and off of curbs and doing face plants. LOL



Carl Kruger thinks too many pedestrians are being injured because they aren't paying attention while crossing the street. As a New York state senator from Queens, every year since 2007 he has proposed a law making the use of an electronic device while crossing the street a crime. Cross the street in a major city in New York while using your cell phone or listening to your iPod and he wants to fine you $100. "Tuning in and tuning out can be a fatal combination on the streets of New York," Sen. Kruger said.
Kruger's bill is S1945-2011. It is one of over 4,000 bills that have been submitted in the State Assembly and State Senate so far in 2011. Only about 9 percent of submitted bills passed both houses in 2009-2010, and the governor signed about 82 percent of them into law. This bill may not have much of a chance of passing but it has a chance.
The use of electronic devices in vehicles, on bicycles and while walking is under fire nationwide. In California, Joe Simitian has proposed extending the state's ban on the use of cell phones while driving to bicyclists. Arkansas legislator Jimmy Jeffress has withdrawn, for now, his proposed ban on pedestrians wearing headphones or ear buds in both ears. At least 10 states ban the use of hand held cell phones while driving and thirty states ban texting while driving.
New York City did a study that looked at over 7,000 accidents in the city in the past few years. Driver inattention was cited as the cause of 36 percent of the accidents that killed or seriously injured pedestrians. 21 percent of the drivers involved in such crashes were found to have left the scene. Most car / pedestrian crashes happened at intersections, not in midblock. Just over 33 percent of the crashes happened to pedestrians crossing legally, with a traffic signal or in a crosswalk without a signal.
YouTube has a video up of a girl in a mall, walking and texting. She walks right into a fountain in the middle of the mall. The video has been seen 2.9 million times since Jan. 14.
Clearly, walking while distracted is an issue. Pedestrians who cross in midblock or against traffic signals already commit a violation. Drivers of cars that fail to yield to pedestrians crossing in a crosswalk with a traffic signal commit a violation. Current traffic laws cover pedestrians and drivers interacting. It's not clear that adding an additional violation will prevent any car/pedestrian accidents.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20110126/...new_york_state

We all remember this moron

[mrmarket]

They need to stop messing with nature. Let people weed themselves out of the gene pool. Too much coddling and you end up with people like gdoom. Solid capper though.

[YorkHunt]

I caught bateman doing it also:

[DwightShrute]

They need to stop messing with nature. Let people weed themselves out of the gene pool. Too much coddling and you end up with people like gdoom. Solid capper though.

LOL ya I agree. It's different if they are driving because they can kill someone else but if they walk down into an elevator shaft then so be it.