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New Jersey Bill Wants to Make Crossing the Road While Texting Illegal

Apparently, some people don't know the difference between apples and oranges, which is really sad for them, and not just because only one of the two keeps the doctor away when consumed regularly.
New York crosswalk 1 photo
Photo: Z22 via wikipedia.org
There's this lawmaker called Pamela Lampitt who is sponsoring a bill that wants to punish risky behavior among pedestrians as well. Why? Well, because if such activities as texting or speaking on the phone are considered dangerous while driving, why should they be allowed when walking?

For one thing, the pedestrians aren't surrounded by 4,000 pounds of metal and plastic moving at great speed, that's why. But Mrs. Lampitt is having none of that. She said, quoted by abc News, "If a person on the road - whether walking or driving - presents a risk to others on the road, there should be a law in place to dissuade and penalize risky behavior."

To which we say "Hallelujah." No, really, she has a point. There should indeed be a law to prevent people from wielding AK47s, regardless whether they are walking or driving. The proposed bill would have been completely ridiculous if its effects spread to the pedestrians on the sidewalks as well. But as it stands, it only addresses those crossing the road.

Mrs. Lampitt proposed a $50 fine or 15 days in jail (ouch) for those caught crossing the road without paying full attention to their surroundings."An individual crossing the road distracted by their smartphone presents just as much danger to motorists as someone jaywalking and should be held, at a minimum, to the same penalty," she also added.

In all honesty, if a pedestrian is legally crossing the road, all the responsibility is transferred to the driver. If said pedestrian chooses to ignore the common sense thing to do by not paying attention to the traffic, then he or she risks becoming one more example in support of Darwin's Theory of Evolution.

The bottom line is that instead of laws that punish pedestrians for what could best be described as irresponsible behavior, more campaigns to raise awareness on the risks involved would be more useful. Because sending a man to jail for 15 days after looking at his phone while crossing on green is just as ridiculous as banning smartphones altogether.
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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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