New Jersey Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt has been gaining attention recently after introducing a measure that would ban walking while texting and baring the use of electronic communication devices unless they are hands free on public roads. All you can really say to her is, “Ha, good luck with that one.”
Motions like this have been brought up in other states before, such as Arkansas, Illinois, Nevada and New York, and have failed. What makes New Jersey special enough to create a lasting change in the system?
To those who are thinking, “What kind of mentality is that? How do you expect change when you are fighting it from happening?” That’s not my mentality. Yes we need to make a change, but a fine won’t change anything any time soon.
Distracted walking has been causing problems for people in recent years. Over 90 percent of people have a phone that can connect to Wi-Fi and none of them want to put it down until they can like every image Selena Gomez has posted on Instagram.
People have been getting hurt. Most of the time they hurt themselves by walking into poles, other people or even into cars. If they spent a little time looking up and actually focusing on walking, maybe this wouldn’t happen. That’s the idea around the bill, but if people had the common sense to just put their phone down for a second then something this drastic wouldn’t be needed.
In New Jersey, a person who breaks the law and uses their mobile device while walking could face a $50 fine, 15 days in jail or both. This is the same as the punishment for jaywalking. Lampitt said, “An individual crossing the road distracted by their smartphone presents just as much danger to motorists as someone jaywalking and should be held, at minimum, to the same penalty.”
What kind of mentality is that? How often do cops write jaywalking tickets? Everyone jaywalks. I’d say I jaywalk at least once a week on average. Cops have bigger things to worry about the majority of the time. Do you think they’re going to let an assailant run freely down the streets as they write a ticket for someone sending a tweet? Not a chance.
Some talk about the importance of educating people about the dangers of these issues. That would be an interesting topic to add to a health class, probably put before that miracle of birth video they make people watch. It would either be that or creating commercials over dramatizing it. After seeing commercial after commercial about texting and driving, I hope it’s not the latter.
Lampitt claims that half of the money they would get from the fine from the $50 would go toward educating people about the dangers, but where would they educate them is yet to be determined. On top of that, 50 percent of zero is zero. Unless they force cops to give out a certain number of these tickets a month, there won’t be a lot of money in this field.
Change needs to be made, but a fine isn’t the right step. The more that people try to force the change, the less attention is paid to serious issues and that can end up hurting more people in the long run. The change should be made through teaching people early on. That is the best way to ensure awareness of the issue and change the habits people form.
