Should Rochester Fine People For Walking And Texting At The Same Time?

Okay, a show of hands: Who among us has been looking at your phone while walking at the same time…and had that not turn out well? Did you accidentally walk straight into someone else? Have you walked into a pole? (*cough*) Are you these people?

I’ll admit, I’m guilty of this. It’s been hammered over and over that texting and driving isn’t that much different than drunk driving, so why wouldn’t texting and walking be the same thing as you being a beer too deep?

That’s what some cities throughout the country believe, as there were nearly 6,000 pedestrian deaths last year, a 22-percent increase since 2014. So far, the cities of Honolulu and potentially Stanford, Connecticut will be fining ‘phone walkers’ $15 to as high as $99. It’s an interesting idea, since texting and walking isn’t the safest. And many of us are probably a little too addicted to our phones. But here’s my question – is this an unnecessary law, and could it be too open to interpretation? I could see arguments on both sides.

What do you think? Should Rochester also fine people for texting and walking on the street?

Source: Star Tribune