Ban Proposed On Walking While Talking, Listening To iPod

[OS X]

Ban Would Apply To MP3 players, Blackberrys

A state senator from Brooklyn said on Tuesday he plans to introduce legislation that would ban people from using an MP3 player, cell phone, Blackberry or any other electronic device while crossing the street in either New York City or Buffalo.

NewsChannel 4 reported that Sen. Carl Kruger is proposing the ban in response to two recent pedestrian deaths in his district, including a 23-year-old man who was struck and killed last month while listening to his iPod on Avenue T and East 71st Street In Bergen Beach.

"While people are tuning into their iPods and cell phones, they're tuning out the world around them," Kruger said. The proposed law would make talking on cell phones while crossing the street a comparable offense to jaywalking.

Some pedestrians said they were not worried about their safety while using their electronic devices while walking.

"I look for the light," said Venus Montes of Williamsburg.

"I'm still looking," said Lance Gordon of Far Rockaway. "It's not like I'm not paying attention."

Others said the proposed ban would not work.

"I don't think anyone's going to be up for this," said Patricia Lewis of Staten Island. "I don't think anyone wants this."

Other pedestrians said they thought the proposal was a good idea.

"It's too dangerous," said Nicole Lake of Jersey City. "Drivers don't pay attention and pedestrians don't pay attention."

http://www.wnbc.com/news/10948106/detail.html?rss=ny&psp=news

[jneale]

I don’t know how you’d enforce it – but it isn’t a bad idea.

I just got an ipod & had no idea how much sound it blocked out. I walked around the gym in my own little ipod world – people I know had to knock me down to get my attention. With headphones you still get some sound coming through – the ear buds block out everything. I think when I take it on the bike trail this year I’m switching to an old pair of headphones.

[DLDude]

Why not just ban people from crossing the road? I think that's the real problem here, people are in front of cars. If we kept people from being in front of cars, then how could they get hit? it just makes sense. I'm going to write my local legislator about it.

[Sushi]

Hasn't that legislator ever heard of natural selection?

[knubbin]

Great idea. Why should people have to take on the responsibility of paying attention to their surroundings and knowing when to cross the street? I am far too lazy and stupid to be responsible for my own survival and would welcome another infringement on my freedom.

[Predot listener]

I don’t know how you’d enforce it – but it isn’t a bad idea.


To me, enforcement is kind of immaterial. If you institute a ban, it will make people aware of it when they cross the street. Not everyone will follow it, but enough will that it will likely reduce the likelihood of accidents. Moreover, it provides a legal framework in the event of an accident (it might make it harder for an Ipod-wearing dumbass to sue after he gets run down by a motorist).

I liken it to the Indiana law that requires motorists to move over or slow down when an emergency vehicle is assisting someone on the side of the interestate, enacted after several officers were killed in that situation. I don't know that many tickets are ever issued (since the officer is occupied at the time of the offense), but it has made people aware of the need for caution. And, to my knowledge, we haven't had any of those deaths since the law was passed.

[drougan]

How does anyone expect that eliminating headphone use on the street is going to do anything? Is the sound of an approaching car really that obvious compared to the noise level in a city? Isn't that why you're supposed to look before crossing? WTF?

[jcarwash31]

"Drivers don't pay attention and pedestrians don't pay attention."
Ain't that the fuckin' truth. I am amazed everytime I see someone walk into a street without looking. Even at Target where it is well established you stop for all pedestrians, people walk out of the store and into traffic without giving it a second thought. Assuming the person in the giant vehicle that can crush you will stop.


I just got an ipod & had no idea how much sound it blocked out. I walked around the gym in my own little ipod world – people I know had to knock me down to get my attention. With headphones you still get some sound coming through – the ear buds block out everything. I think when I take it on the bike trail this year I’m switching to an old pair of headphones.
That's why you need to pay closer attention to things around you when using an iPod or cell phone. If you are being distracted, you need take responsibility for it.

[akip]

i'll bet more people get hit while riding bicycles than while listening to ipods. do we ban bicycles?

[Duemellon]

I guess neither one of the people recently killed had families or dependents otherwise Apple would be sued for millions because they have no warning about crossing NY streets on them.

As cruel as it sounds I think there doesn't have to be a law. It'll get sorted out in the end.

[Predot listener]

i'll bet more people get hit while riding bicycles than while listening to ipods. do we ban bicycles?


And more people likely die in car v. car accidents. Neither of which is relevant to this proposal. Bicycles and cars are legal, and necessary, forms of transportation. Accidents will happen involving them, but those accidents don't outweigh their necessity.

Listening to your Ipod to cross the street has no public benefit, and does create some public risk (and not just to the dumbass wearing it, but to the law-abiding motorist who may risk his safety trying to avoid him). This ban (which, in effect, would merely be putting the behavior on the books as illegal, though its enforcement would surely be almost non-existent) protects the motorist as much as the moronic pedestrian.

In effect, I'm sure your constitutionally protected right to listen to your Ipod while crossing a public street will go uninfringed upon if you simply avoid getting hit.

[silentpaul]

i'll bet more people get hit while riding bicycles than while listening to ipods. do we ban bicycles?
Personally I think we should make it a little harder to get and maintain possession of a driver's lisence. There are a ton of horrid drivers out there. So many of us could use a refresher course on how to operate a motor vehicle. It's not like a point-and-click camera. You have to actually know something about how it works. I'd be happier if more drivers had an accurate idea of the actual size of their car...

[Buzzstein]

I think that's a little silly. If you don't have enough sense to look both ways before crossing the street it's kind of your own fault if you get hit. I'm not sure that law will fly.

[akip]

i think people should be encouraged to keep their ipods turned down to a level where they can hear traffic in the street. it would also save their hearing.

[Buzzstein]

i think people should be encouraged to keep their ipods turned down to a level where they can hear traffic in the street. it would also save their hearing.

definitely

[silentpaul]

I think that's a little silly. If you don't have enough sense to look both ways before crossing the street it's kind of your own fault if you get hit. I'm not sure that law will fly.
That's just it. America is gradually becoming a society where we need commom sense legislated for us. We're becoming ever stupider and more selfish / self-centered. We're too wrapped up in our latest download to notice the car bearing down on us, the driver of which is blasting his stereo so he can't hear the ambulance behind him that's trying to take some idiot to the hospital after getting hit while crossing the street without paying attention because she was all wrapped up in her latest ipod download...
:mad:
[A little grouchy today. Beg pardon.]

[alternachild]

I can't wait for the day to come when it's illegal to sit around in my boxers at home because it's bad for my health. Or drink milk in the shower. Or sneaking up to the tower of McMicken Hall--oh wait.

[purple_octopus]

i'll bet more people get hit while riding bicycles than while listening to ipods. do we ban bicycles?
And deaf people. They can't ever hear anything. We should ban them too.

[drougan]

That's just it. America is gradually becoming a society where we need commom sense legislated for us. We're becoming ever stupider and more selfish / self-centered. We're too wrapped up in our latest download to notice the car bearing down on us, the driver of which is blasting his stereo so he can't hear the ambulance behind him that's trying to take some idiot to the hospital after getting hit while crossing the street without paying attention because she was all wrapped up in her latest ipod download...
:mad:
[A little grouchy today. Beg pardon.]


"legislating common sense" is less about well, legislating common sense than it is about sheltering liability. In Due's post he mentions the victims families suing Apple because the product had no warning lables about the rist of getting hit in the street. You don't a label on a product to reduce the event of an accident, you put a lable on the product so that when an accident DOES happen you can say "Hey, I warned you this could happen, if you didn't listen, then I can't be blamed"

[classicgrrl]

I think that's a little silly. If you don't have enough sense to look both ways before crossing the street it's kind of your own fault if you get hit. I'm not sure that law will fly.

agreed.

might be nice if they banned them while driving however. :rolleyes:

[Duemellon]

And deaf people. They can't ever hear anything. We should ban them too.I think most deaf people have gotten used to their world of silence and would know more about where to look before crossing the street than these unfortunate "newbies" to loud music.

[kitsune]

I say we start taking warning labels off most major appliances. Natural selection will kill them off the first time they attack the toaster with a knife for eating their bread.

[silentpaul]

Didn't we learn not to touch hot ovens by getting burned once? Getting hit by a car once would teach a lot of people to look first. If they survive...

[Breeze]

Didn't we learn not to touch hot ovens by getting burned once? Getting hit by a car once would teach a lot of people to look first. If they survive...

And if they don't, they will serve as an example for others.
http://images.despair.com/products/demotivators/mistakes.jpg

[akip]

And deaf people. They can't ever hear anything. We should ban them too.

:D


all i wanna do is walk my dog in my neighborhood and listen to my ipod in peace while he sniffs every trickle of dog piss in the snow. just 'cause some dumba.., i mean, some unfortunate person steps out in front of a car in manhattan doesn't mean i can't enjoy my own life in buffalo, though enjoy might be a bit strong...

[Seattle93]

Bicycles and cars are legal, and necessary, forms of transportation. Accidents will happen involving them, but those accidents don't outweigh their necessity.

and feet and legs aren't legal or necessary?

:confused:

If you don't have enough sense to look both ways before crossing the street it's kind of your own fault if you get hit.

do they still send kids to "safetytown" anymore?

seriously, people that don't take the precautions that have been taught to us and ingrained in our subconscious since we were 4 years old have no one to blame but themselves...especially if they are crossing the street against the signal. those red and white blinking lights on the post help a little bit, too.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/Seattle93/crossing.gif

i almost forgot about blind people! obviously, they can't see the signs or the traffic, but the crosswalk signs now make beeping noises so they know when to cross the street.

hopefully they know better than to wear an ipod if they plan on crossing the street.

:rolleyes:

[Predot listener]

:D


all i wanna do is walk my dog in my neighborhood and listen to my ipod in peace while he sniffs every trickle of dog piss in the snow. just 'cause some dumba.., i mean, some unfortunate person steps out in front of a car in manhattan doesn't mean i can't enjoy my own life in buffalo, though enjoy might be a bit strong...


OK, perhaps I'm making too much about the objections to this, but blame that on sitting home alone with a sick kid. But I fail to see how this law, as proposed, would seriously alter your ability to enjoy your dog walks, unless you believe you have an inalienable right to listen to your Ipod during the six seconds it takes to cross a public street. But go ahead and do it, and risk a prosecution as stiff as the penalty for JAYWALKING. They busting a lot of folks for that in Buffalo?

Seriously, it's easy to say if someone is stupid enough to walk in front of a car without looking, then he deserves to get hit. But that ignores the driver who hits him. I'm not sure he's going to feel really great about hitting someone, even an ignoramus. Or, to look at it from purely a selfish POV, such an incident is going to cause the driver to waste time (talking to the cops), and possibly cause damage to his vehicle. And worse is when said driver swerves to avoid hitting the dumb dick pedestrian and plows into another innocent motorist. All of those things seem like good things to avoid to me.

I've yet to see anyone propose a single downside to this legislation other than how it's an attack on their misguided sense of entitlement. Will it cause a dramatic drop in car-pedestrian accidents? Nope. May it cause some? Yup. And at what cost? A six-second loss of the precious freedom to listen to music or talk on the phone in a public thoroughfare.

[patio]

I personally believe we should ban people from walking altogether.

[jcarwash31]

I personally believe we should ban people from walking altogether.
We should ban people from being morons. Don't diagnose the symptoms, diagnose the disorder.

[DaHood]

I personally believe we should ban people from walking altogether.
It's just as good an idea as many other bans. Ban this, ban that, ban ban ban.



BANS SUCK!!!!!

[akip]

walking in nyc is dangerous, period. you have to maintain awareness or you can get hurt, robbed, or even die. but i still preferred it when it was next to anarchy.

[Sarrah]

It's just as good an idea as many other bans. Ban this, ban that, ban ban ban.



BANS SUCK!!!!!


Let's ban bans.

[The_Deacon]

A ban on sleeping and breathing should be put into effect right away. That shit is holding the human race back from better things. BAN that shit baby :p

[classicgrrl]

we should just ban walking.

what I don't understand is why it is "cool" for young urban idiots wearing their pants at their ankles to walk out and right up to a moving vehicle in the middle of traffic.

I see everyday to and from my way to work.

sometimes they have their 'game face' on....

Is doing this supposed to prove they are tough? 'cause they look retarded. and one day, when i am standing in line behind one of the 'ankle pant wearing' gang, I will pull the fuckers down.

[markalot]

Why would anyone support a ban on a device that promotes evolution?

[Buzzstein]

Some bans are good...some bans are not...

sometimes you feel like a nut....sometimes you don't...

[justa bill]

NYC to ban walking with iPods... ;) yeah right, what's next? are they going to ban smoking in bars or something?! :D

[Homsar]

Let's ban bans.
http://img34.exs.cx/img34/7716/flintstones.bmp
?

[Shlep]

This is simply the latest incarnation of something which has been going on about 25 years. Anyone else remember when the Sony Walkman first came out in the early '80s? Same things happened. When I was in the Marines ('87-'91) there was a standing order by the Commanding General of Camp Lejeune banning the wearing of portable music players (i.e. Walkmen...we didn't have no fancy iPods back in *MY* day!) by Marines while walking from Point A to Point B on the post and most certainly while driving.

Reason? A couple Jarheads were in or nearly caused accidents involving a car and a guy on foot diddy-bopping their way across the street while ensconced in their own little music-filled world.

I fail to see how passing still more of the same laws is going to recitfy the same ill-advised behavior with the newest version of the same sort of device.

[Duemellon]

So, by banning it, they're making it illegal. By making it illegal they're putting the blame squarely on the pedestrian for walking into traffic.

Now, what does that mean? Could a cop stop someone who's got iPod on their heads when crossing? I don't think it's "reasonable" cause because the individual could simply have turned down the volume. However, by legislatively making culpability clear it absolves future drivers from a lengthy trial.

When I thought of that angle it make sense. It just strengthens the "Personal responsibility" argument by making it legal. If the law is being passed to prevent people from doing it, that's a waste, but to ensure liability? I can see it.