14 DAY TRIAL // Smartphone zombies, beware: authorities across the world are becoming increasingly fed up with people using their mobile phones when crossing the street, so very soon doing this could cost you up to $100.
Honolulu has passed a law that makes it illegal to use the phone while crossing the street, with the police to be allowed to issue fines up to $99 to repeated offenders.
Honolulu thus becomes the first major city in the United States to issue a ban on distracting walking, and authorities in other regions see this as an experiment that could lead to more widely-adopted legislation.
The new law will come into effect on October 25 and pedestrians can be fined between $15 and $99, Reuters reports. The ban is specifically supposed not necessarily to prevent cars from hitting pedestrians who are using their phones while crossing the street, but to reduce the number of accidents that smartphone zombies themselves suffer when running into stationary objects or even hitting cars.
Calling emergency services not banned
While data on how many people were injured in such accidents was not provided, Mayor Kirk Caldwell says crossing the street while using the smartphone has become a major issue for the city and this is why the law comes to tackle distracted walking in an aggressive manner. The law passed with 7 votes to 2 earlier this month, the report adds.
"We hold the unfortunate distinction of being a major city with more pedestrians being hit in crosswalks, particularly our seniors, than almost any other city in the county," Caldwell said was quoted as saying. "Cell phones are not just pervading our roadways but pervading our sidewalks too," Maureen Vogel, a spokeswoman for the council, also added.
Using the phone on a crosswalk will be allowed only for people making calls for emergency services, according to the new bill. The biggest $99 fine will be issued to repeated offenders, though no other sanctions are mentioned for those who violate the law multiple times.