First don't walk... now don't TALK! New Yorkers face fines for using phones while crossing roads
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 9:31 AM on 27th January 2011
Last updated at 9:31 AM on 27th January 2011
Iconic: Pedestrian crossing signs in New York could soon include a notice not to use phones and other devices
New Yorkers face being banned from using mobile phones or iPods while crossing the road under a new law being considered by local politicians.
In a bid to clear city streets of dangerously preoccupied joggers and commuters, those caught breaking the rule would face a fine of $100 (£63) and a court summons.
Carl Kruger, a Democratic state senator, said the new law, which would apply in other cities in the state if passed, was necessary to prevent accidents being caused by people locked in the ‘deceptive serenity’ of their phones or MP3 players.
‘You can't be fully aware of your surroundings if you're fiddling with a BlackBerry dialling a phone number,’ Mr Kruger told The Daily Telegraph, ‘or listening to music on an iPod’.
Last month, 21-year-old Jason King, who was listening to music through headphones, was hit and killed by a truck on a Manhattan street corner after failing to hear the vehicle's reverse siren.
Less lethal accidents are also commonplace.
Cathy Marrero, of Reading, Pennsylvania, stumbled into a shopping mall fountain earlier this month while answering an email on her phone as she walked along.
She became a YouTube phenomenon after CCTV footage posted on the website was watched by more than 1.5million people.
'Dangerous preoccupation': A businessman in Manhattan talks on his mobile
The Governors Highway Safety Associationw, which represents road safety agencies across the country, says that pedestrian deaths account for 12 per cent of fatalities on U.S. roads, and that numbers increased last year after being in decline for several years.
‘Unfortunately we've done such a great job with reminding people about being distracted behind the wheel, one thing we haven't done is reminding people about how to be a safe walker,’ Jonathan Adkins, a spokesman for the group, told CBS News.
But free-spirited New Yorkers, who pride themselves on multi-tasking, may prove deaf to his argument.
Blunder: Cathy Marrero fell into a mall fountain while texting as she walked along
A plan for a similar law in Arkansas was dropped earlier this week.
Proposals have been made in California, Oregon and Virginia to ban cyclists from using their mobile phones as they ride.
Most states have banned texting while driving, yet unlike in Britain some allow motorists to talk on their mobile phones.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1350935/New-Yorkers-face-fines-using-phones-crossing-roads.html#ixzz1CFBjjUQj
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