http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070207/...ewyork_ipod_dc
Quote:
New York may ban iPods while crossing street
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Yorkers who blithely cross the street listening to an iPod or talking on a cell phone could soon face a $100 fine.
New York State Sen. Carl Kruger says three pedestrians in his Brooklyn district have been killed since September upon stepping into traffic while distracted by an electronic device. In one case bystanders screamed "watch out" to no avail.
Kruger says he will introduce legislation on Wednesday to ban the use of gadgets such as Blackberry devices and video games while crossing the street.
"Government has an obligation to protect its citizenry," Kruger said in a telephone interview from Albany, the state capital. "This electronic gadgetry is reaching the point where it's becoming not only endemic but it's creating an atmosphere where we have a major public safety crisis at hand."
Tech-consuming New Yorkers trudge to work on sidewalks and subways like an army of drones, appearing to talk to themselves on wireless devices or swaying to seemingly silent tunes.
"I'm not trying to intrude on that," Kruger said. "But what's happening is when they're tuning into their iPod or Blackberry or cell phone or video game, they're walking into speeding buses and moving automobiles. It's becoming a nationwide problem."
|
Sorry but I have a real problem with this. The government should not be in the business of protecting the terminally stupid. If you are brain dead enough to run out into traffic without paying attention then you really should not be protected from doing the world a favor and removing yourself from the gene pool.
You could make the argument that the law is to protect those who would be emotionally harmed by hitting/killing the stupid person or that the law is protect the rest of society from the inconvenience that this sort of accident causes and I would be willing to listen. However, this law maker is trying to protect these folks from themselves and frankly I have an issue with it. I think the roll of the government is to protect the citizenry from threats that it cannot control. This is a threat that just a bit of common sense negates.
This is just one more law for an already over worked law enforcement community to try to enforce when they have much more important things to do.