I feel uncanny while having to write about this subject... it is a very simple issue yet it can also mean so much... even severe injuries or death. I guess you have never thought that your iPod or other portable player could get you killed; yet the principle is so simple and so quick that it sometimes becomes hard to believe that such things could actually happen.

As a matter of fact, this „happening" is one the worst thoughts to cross your mind when crossing the street. „Such a thing couldn't possibly happen to me", this is what people usually say when confronted with others' mishaps; and yet bad luck strikes without choosing. For those whose lives rely on such phrases as the one I have quoted above it is not a matter of „if" but rather a matter of „when"... Let's see who thought first...

State Senator Carl Kruger has proposed a new law which, if passed, would ban the use of cellphones and Blackberries, PSPs, all sorts of portable music players (with headphones, that is), video players and the like, when crossing the street, walking, jogging or bicycling across a New York road. The NY senator came with this law idea after the death of a 21 man in September, when the victim was hit by a bus in Brooklyn while listening to music and also after a 23-year-old lady was killed the same way while using an iPod, last month.

One of the first responses to Mr. Kruger's proposal came from a civil liberties attorney, Christopher Murray, who has catalogued the law as being excessive and claimed that there are lots of other priorities than fining people for listening to music while wearing headphones and crossing the street. He said that "legislature should stop playing mother and see to the failing schools and crushing proprietary taxes" rather than caring for iPods and looking twice when crossing the street.

Now, in my opinion, both sides have their share of truth and justice: on one hand it is a bit exaggerated to impose a $100 fine on someone who is "walking on a NewYork street "with his/her headphones on". First of all, in almost no case could the policeman prove that the respective person was actually listening to something: myself, many times a day, am surprised that I am wearing headphones but I am listening neither to music nor radio! So, let's cut it straight: I am on my bike, wearing ear bud phones and my MP3-player is in my poket. A police officer sees me 200 feet away: how can he prove that I was listening to something? It is hilarious, you must admit this.

On the other hand, Mr. Kruger also has his share of right thinking in what his proposal is concerned: we all have to admit that during our mobile phone conversations we are way less attentive and aware of what is actually happening around us and this state of mental "abandon" is by no means restricted to the "safe locations" such as our home and the like. In fact, there have been cases in which severe injuries have resulted out of lack of awareness due to phone conversations or other similar situations. Should we bring forward once more the "don't talk on your cellphone while driving"-issue? I guess not...

Well, it just remains to be seen what will become of Sen. Kruger's new law proposal as it looks like it's addressing a very peculiar problem whose solving is not by far as simple as the law's specs would try and make it look.