Walk, Text Get a Ticket: One New Jersey City Takes a Stand
Here in DFW, we don’t have too many cell phone laws. Sure, Arlington passed a city law earlier this year that bans texting while driving in city limits, but other than that North Texans are allowed to talk and text while doing almost anything. But that’s not the case in Fort Lee, New Jersey where police are starting to issue $85 jaywalking tickets to pedestrians caught texting while walking.
"It's a big distraction. Pedestrians aren't watching where they are going and they are not aware," said Thomas Ripoli, chief of the Fort Lee Police Department.
We’ve all seen the viral YouTube videos that show people like “Fountain Lady” falling into and off of things because they were walking and texting and while the videos are funny – there is a serious problem associated. People cause car accidents all the time because they are too busy to pay attention to the road. Is walking and texting really any different?
It’s pretty sad when we have to implement laws to keep people from making decisions that are obvious no-brainers.
Category: Bicycle & Pedestrian Accidents
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1 Comments to "Walk, Text Get a Ticket: One New Jersey City Takes a Stand"
Sure, texting while walking could be a cause for hazard, but is there a need to implement a law that makes it illegal? I would actually think fun campaigns or more notice boards reminding commuters to stay off the phone along the road would be more humane than to restrict a natural daily action by law.
