Whether it’s walking down the sidewalk or crossing the street, electronic devices have turned pedestrians into smartphone Zombies.
“Everywhere you go, you see people just looking down on their phone walking around, so they are obviously doing it crossing the
road,” says Lauren Zucker, a Kingston resident who has noticed the growing problem.
That’s led to calls, especially from drivers, to do something about distracted pedestrians. One driver believes that “if people were punished for it, then it would stop because there’s been times when I’m driving that I’ve almost hit someone,” says Julia Gollner.
The Kingston resident admits she isn’t innocent when it comes to texting and crossing the street, but says there’s nothing like a fine to get pedestrians to pay more attention.
“I think it would do a lot of good, except for the fact that I worry people won’t listen to the law because even I’m guilty of it. My phone will buzz and I’ll look at it while I’m in a situation where I probably shouldn’t be looking,” says Gollner.
A Liberal MPP introduced the “Phones Down, Heads Up Act” in the legislature on Monday. He pointed to Ontario’s chief coroner’s report that found 11 out of 95 pedestrian deaths in Ontario involved people distracted by a cellphone or electronic device.
Yvan Baker says: “My bill would strengthen road safety by encouraging pedestrians to keep each other safe and it would save lives.”
Rising pedestrian deaths have prompted other jurisdictions to pass laws targeting distracted walking. For example, earlier this month, Honolulu became the first U.S. city to ban people from texting or using digital devices while crossing roads.
If passed here in Ontario, fines would range from $50 for a first ticket, up to $125 for a third offence.
Some call it a waste of time, saying the government should instead focus on other issues, like distracted driving.
“It’s silly. Who’s going to enforce it? Are you going to have cops at every corner when they should be doing something important? Na,” says Art McEwen.
The proposed bill does allow for a couple of exceptions, for example, if you were calling emergency services, or continuing a call that you started before crossing the street.
While private members’ bills are a long shot to get approved, this one would also give smaller cities like Kingston the option of “opting out” of the so-called Zombie law.
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