Sending Messages While Walking: Would You Like It To Become Forbidden?

This is the question you need to think about today. You can ask me: why do I even bother about it? As the answer to your question, I would like to say that even though it does not much of a problem (in comparison to texting while driving, for example), this topic raises its popularity these days. That is why I ask you to think about it deeply and consider the options. I will also give you some examples as food for thought.

Sending messages in public places

No law prohibits sending messages when you are walking yet. But one town in New Jersey called Fort Lee has almost passed such a law. Eventually, the law was not approved, and few state walk-safe programs were initiated in March because two fatal pedestrian incidents occurred within 24 hours in Fort Lee this February. Moreover, 117 pedestrians were fined for failing to use crosswalks with or without using their mobile phones.

Whether you are driving your car or walking across the street (even using crosswalks) – texting while you go or walk puts in danger not only your life but the lives of other people surrounding you too. For example, you are texting while walking to the crosswalk and don’t see that you have red light and cars have the green one. You start crossing the road, and either you be hit by a car (especially if the driver was texting too and didn’t see you), or the driver will do harsh braking and be hit by the vehicle that drives behind him. Or realizing that he won’t be able to stop in time and willing to prevent his car from hitting you, he will turn to the sidewalk to have more time to break. And no one knows how this will end…

Preventing texting while walking

To deal with this problem, different countries are using other methods. For example, in London, you can see padding at poles for pedestrians who are sending messages when they are walking not to be hurt too much when they hit the pole by their head. Seems funny? It is weird to watch someone in this situation, but it will not be so amusing when you hit that pole by your head. But there is another option for all pedestrians – you can prevent texting while walking around you and make your life and the lives of many people around you much safer.

So let’s return to the initial question: would you like texting while walking to evolve forbidden in your town? Tell me what you think in the comments.