However at least one member of the Honolulu City Council wants island residents to put aside their electronic obsessions and pay closer attention to the road.
Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi has sponsored a measure (Bill 43) that would make it illegal to use a cell phone or other electronic device while crossing the road.
“I do see people not paying attention as they cross the street and it is a danger,” Kobayashi told Khon2.
The bill faces an initial vote this Wednesday before all nine members of the Council. Most of the time bills easily clear first reading before being passed onto committee, where they are voted on again before facing a third and final vote.
However this time around Kobayashi admits her bill faces an uphill climb.
“It’ll take a lot of discussion before this piece of legislation passes because we don’t want to regulate too much and yet we’re worried about the safety of pedestrians,” she said.
Oahu residents approached by Khon2 in busy downtown Honolulu Monday were not convinced about a possible ban on electronics, saying crossing the road safely comes down to simple common sense.
“It’s survival of the fittest,” said downtown resident Israel Stevens. “Everybody has to take some responsibility for themselves.”
Ewa Beach resident Diane Orsino agreed. “I wouldn’t want (the ban) because you are walking and can see what’s going on,” she said.
According to Honolulu Police spokeswoman Michelle Yu, the department does not keep track whether electronic devices play a role in pedestrian fatalities. So far this year five pedestrians have been killed on Oahu roadways; of those three were in marked crosswalks.
LOBBIED BY OTHERS
To be fair, Kobayashi only introduced the measure to ban electronics while crossing a road or highway after she was lobbied by staff members of a state representative.
Kobayashi refused to name the state lawmaker whose office the suggestion came from, but was concerned enough about pedestrian safety to take the plunge.
“There’s so many new devices now that we all have to be very careful,” she said. “It’s becoming a problem.”
Bill 43 does not specify a possible fine for violators but those who are currently caught jaywalking in the City and County of Honolulu face a $130 fine.
SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE
While critics of the Kobayashi’s bill may see it as another example of government overreach, scientific studies have shown pedestrians who latch onto phones and other gadgets while crossing a road put themselves at greater risk.
“We have some work currently being considered for publication that finds adults (college students) are distracted when crossing the street by talking on the phone, text-messaging,
and even while listening to music,” said Dr. David C. Schwebel, a professor and vice-chair of the department of psychology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
According to the study that utilized a virtual reality road, those who crossed the street without distractions were hit by a car 6 percent of the time. The rate jumped to 12 percent while talking on a cell phone, 25 percent while texting and 32 percent if listening to music.
In 2009 Schwebel and his colleagues published a similar study on preadolescent children that showed comparable results.
“The influence of cell phones on child pedestrian safety is particularly concerning because cell phones, an oddity a decade ago, are quickly becoming ubiquitous among American schoolchildren,” wrote the study’s authors.
TRIED ELSEWHERE
An effort to ban cell phones and other electronics while crossing New York City’s famous, bustling streets has repeatedly failed. Brooklyn state Senator Carl Kruger first introduced the measure in 1994.
“We have people who are literally dying in the street,” Kruger told CBS New York this past January.
Kruger revived the debate over a possible ban after a 21 year old man, Jason King, was killed by a truck while in a crosswalk on the Upper East Side. King was listening to his iPod at the time of his death.
Another measure that would ban the use of iPods and other musical devices in both ears while near a road or at an intersection has been introduced in Arkansas. It’s unclear at the time of this writing if the proposal has gained any traction.
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See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
