(Image source: Gothamist)

BY TARA GRIMES

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NY STATE SEN. CARL KRUGER (D - BROOKLYN): “When people are doing things that are detrimental to their own well being, then government should step in.”
 
That’s the argument New York Democratic State Senator Carl Kruger gave New York’s WCBS on why he’s proposing banning pedestrians from using devices like iPods and cell phones when crossing the street.

If passed, walkers or runners who talk on the phone or listen to music devices while crossing the street would be fined $100. A report released last week by the Governors Highway Safety Association says, nationally, pedestrian fatalities increased slightly in the first half of 2010 compared to the same time in 2009. Pedestrians make up about 12 percent of traffic fatalities. (WFMZ)
 
But some say banning gadgets isn’t the answer. The New York Observer’s Mike Taylor sarcastically calls the problem of electronic distraction a “plague.”
 
“Maybe Mayor Bloomberg should quit worrying so much about keeping people from getting guns and instead focus on the fancy phones that are making everyone act like bewildered infants.”

And a blog on Utah’s Standard-Examiner suggests -- if passed -- it would be a waste of time for law enforcement officials to enforce.
 
“Attempting to leash walkers and joggers is ridiculous and creepily intrusive. Clumsy or air-headed pedestrians are a danger mostly to themselves… It’s laughable that strapped local governments anywhere would see any sanity in having their police officers spend time looking to bust scofflaw gadget.”
 
Still - a writer for Blog Critics says at the very least - distracted pedestrians are annoying.

“They stop abruptly in the middle of walking to read a text, so that you have to trip over yourself to avoid walking into them; they step off the curb and nearly get hit by vehicles; while talking on the phone they weave all over the sidewalk like toddlers.”
 
CNET Senior Editor Rich DeMuro spoke to MSNBC -- and suggested another solution.
 
RICH DEMURO (SENIOR EDITOR FOR CNET): “What do you say when you get stopped ‘oh I had it on pause?’ I mean how do they know what you’re listening to? Do you get a bigger fine if you’re listening to bad music? I mean how far can this go?... I don’t think we need a law, I think we maybe need a public awareness campaign.”
 
According to The New York Times, other states such as California, Oregon, and Virginia are looking to draw up similar bans. On Tuesday, a legislator in Arkansas dropped a proposal like Kruger’s after mounting public criticism.

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