This will never end. Ever. There will always be some yo-yo who feels it necessary to protect me from reality:
First it was cell phones in cars, then trans fats. Now, a new plan is on the table to ban gadget use while crossing city streets.
We all seem to have one -- an iPod, a BlackBerry, a cell phone -- taking up more and more of our time, but can they make us too distracted to walk safely? Some people think so.
If you use them in the crosswalk, your favorite electronic devices could be in the crosshairs.
Legislation will be introduced in Albany on Wednesday to lay a $100 fine on pedestrians succumbing to what State Sen. Carl Kruger calls iPod oblivion.
"We're talking about people walking sort of tuned in and in the process of being tuned in, tuned out," Kruger said. "Tuned out to the world around them. They're walking into speeding cars. They're walking into buses. They're walking into one another and it's creating a number of fatalities that have been documented right here in the city."
I zone out when I am listening to my iPod like everyone else, but that is none of Sen. Kruger's business. If that gets me plastered on the front of city bus, he gets to say I told you so.
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Be a member of an emergency service -- fire department or emergency squad -- at an accident scene partly blocking a roadway and have some idiot in an automobile damn near take you out while he's jabbering on a cell phone about the accident while driving through the fucking accident scene. I don't much give a fuck if an idiot kills himself, but I do give a fuck if he nails me while I'm trying to help some other idiot who went left of center and head-onned an innocent with three kids in the car whilst jabbering on his cell phone and driving.
Or be driving an emergency vehicle to an emergency -- say, your heart attack -- and spend long minutes behind some asshole who's listening to his iPod whilst driving, oblivious to the red lights and siren behind him.
Again, I don't give a damn if idiots kill themselves -- I think of it as natural selection in action -- but I do give a damn when their stupidity puts me at risk.
RBH, it doesn't necessarily take a cell phone. Sometimes it's plain ignorance of the world outside a person's automobile.
Besides, wouldn't the smart thing be to park your BRT as protection?
Hmmm...I'm not sure that I agree with you that this isn't a problem. I've almost driven over people on cell phones and people wearing iPods and I know for a fact that it would be an uncomfortable situation at best if I had killed them. For example, if I had had a beer, even if I wasn't legally drunk, I can be held liable under "zero tolerance" policies. Was I going 35 in a 30 zone? I, as the driver, come under all sorts of scrutiny because some iPod zombie isn't paying attention.
I'm not saying that legislation will necessarily get us there, but I am very, very, very dismayed at the notion that pedestrians can violate right of way all over the freaking place just because drivers don't enjoy the notion of killing them.
Hey, here's a good idea: Why not ban deaf and blind people from crosswalks as well?
Does the state have legislation on using a cell phone/etc. while driving? I'd be more interested in that.
If people in cars drove correctly, pedestrians violating the right of way would almost never be a problem. When I lived in NY, I would say that 75% of the time, somebody ran a red light right as it was turning. So, as a pedestrian, if you're just going by the lights, you're going to be hit. So you watch out. The same doesn't hold true for drivers. They only watch the lights - they're completely ignorant of pedestrians, and they violate the lights and the pedestrians' right of way constantly.
Here's an idea - speed limits in the city are not as arbitrary as those on the highway. There are people walking around who aren't encased in steel. So obey the speed limits and don't drive drunk in the city unless you're prepared to pay the consequences. And obey the freaking lights!
This will never end. Ever. There will always be some yo-yo who feels it necessary to protect me from reality
You're right and wrong. This will never end, especially as technology becomes more immersive. But the yo-yos aren't protecting you from reality, they're protecting you from virtual reality: being in a headspace that's sufficiently distracting to put you in physical danger.
I expect to see similar laws covering virtual/augmented reality as presently cover mobile phone use in cars.
1st off a note to RBH - If that's your attitude about your job do the world and quit and do something not dealing with people. It's pretty pathetic you think that let alone type it for the world to see. I just pray to god your not the one working on me if something ever happens because if that's your professionalism outside the workplace I am scared to see it for when you do work.
2nd I just love how everyone jumps to blame the iPod what about cassette decks or discmans ... I am sure there have been these types of accidents for decades and lets not forget, PDA's cellphones and any other portable electronic device that one can be distracted with. And the drivers need to pay more attention I agree that alot of people try to run red lights. If I see the walk Symbol I walk with my iPod most of the time and if the idot behind the wheel can't watch for me like he was trained to do ... well you just paid for my education via a lawsuit. So for all you stupid and ignorant drivers out there I must ask - How do you like them Apples?!??!?!?!?!?
Brian put it best when he said --"If people in cars drove correctly, pedestrians violating the right of way would almost never be a problem. When I lived in NY, I would say that 75% of the time, somebody ran a red light right as it was turning. So, as a pedestrian, if you're just going by the lights, you're going to be hit. So you watch out. The same doesn't hold true for drivers. They only watch the lights - they're completely ignorant of pedestrians, and they violate the lights and the pedestrians' right of way constantly.
Here's an idea - speed limits in the city are not as arbitrary as those on the highway. There are people walking around who aren't encased in steel. So obey the speed limits and don't drive drunk in the city unless you're prepared to pay the consequences. And obey the freaking lights!"
--Probably the most intelligent thing said in here.....
kudos to kelly-- he made a great point about how iPods are not the only problem mp3 players, walkmans, cassettes.
Sorry, but comments like this:
...are fundamentally retarded. No one should ever violate anyone else's right of way and people who do violate someone else's right of way should not expect to survive the incident! People die every day because they failed to yield to the right of way.
Also, deaf and blind people are used to being deaf and blind and they navigate wonderfully. ipod zombies (and yes, it clearly isn't just ipods) are new to the world of being utter oblivious to their surroundings and they are a danger to themselves and others.
Like I said, laws may not be the answer, but the notion that pedestrians can do whatever idiotic things they want and cars should just dodge them is insane.
QED:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6412094,00.html