Criminal Multi-tasking

All too often, laws start as bills in New York or California….and then trickle down to Illinois. So, be warned….New York is seriously considering passing a law making it illegal for you to walk…while looking at your smartphone.

I can walk, look at my phone and chew gum without being a menace to myself or society. Getting specific now, the New York bill seeks to ban pedestrians from using portable electronic devices while crossing the street. Fines would range from $25 to $250 dollars.

This is the second attempt by lawmakers in New York to criminalize multi-tasking. The lawmaker who is sponsoring the bill says it is “downright alarming to see people continuing their texting while crossing the street.” One of his senate counterparts has a few doubts. He said “it appears …as though this is an overreach of government.” I’d agree.

There’s already a similar law in place in Hawaii called the “distracted pedestrian” law.

Look, I understand that some folks can’t walk and text. But the Governor’s Highway Safety Association estimates most of the pedestrian deaths in the country are after dark…and booze is involved 32-percent of the time.

So I see a new law on the horizon. The “drunk, night-blind, distracted pedestrian law.”

We need to do it….For the children.