Ban Phones While Crossing

"portable electronic device" shall mean any handheld mobile telephone, personal digital assistant (PDA), handheld device with mobile data access, laptop computer, pager, broadband personal communication device, two-way messaging device, electronic game, or portable computing device, or any other device used to input, write, send, receive, or read text for present or future communication.

"using" shall mean holding a portable electronic device while viewing, taking or transmitting images, playing games, or performing a command or request to access world wide web page, composing, sending, reading, viewing, accessing, browsing, transmitting, saving or retrieving email, text messages, instant messages, or other electronic data.

Section (c) of this section excludes an emergency situation: an emergen- cy response operator, hospital, a physician's office or health clinic, an ambulance company, fire department, or police department.

Section (d) states that a violation of this section shall be punishable by a fine of twenty-five dollars upon conviction of a first violation. Upon conviction of any subsequent violations, within a period of eigh- teen months, such violation shall be punishable by a fine of fifty dollars.

Justification

The proliferation of smartphones has led our Texting is one of the most common forms of communication with friends. It's the best way to stay in touch with people outside of social media, but the hard part is when people constantly text even when completing their daily errands. Walking and texting at the same time is most common to do, and it definitely can be dangerous if you aren't careful.

The use of smartphones have become a societal norm between teens and adults. The use of a smartphone or other device while travelling can be dangerous. The reason is simple; it takes away your ability to be alert. Over the last few years, with the increased usage of smartphones, statistics of accidents have skyrocketed. This past year, the National Safety Council added in "distracted walk- ing" injuries as a category for the very first time. This nonprofit group has discovered the statistics for injuries in this specific cate- gory have grown over the years as cell phone usage has increased. They found that incidents in this category were estimated to be 500 or so in year 2000, but more than 2,000+ accidents in 2011 alone. More than 80 percent of those injuries resulted in both minor and serious falls. The truth is that it has increased more than that over the last few years since 2011.

Back in 2013, a study showcased that 4,109 deaths have taken place and more than 4,432 died in 2011. More than 69,000 people in that year were injured alone. These statistics were all gathered by the National High- way Traffic Safety Administration. Another study from the Ohio State University conducted that distracted walking has caused more than two million injuries in the last few years alone.

Statistics have shown that most accidents and traffic deaths have taken place in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. These areas are known for having the most amounts of pedestrian accidents.

It has been proven that distraction from texting while walking can cause pedestrians to cross roads very unsafely. Not only can trips and falls occur, but even getting hit is more than just a possibility. Texting and walking causing car accidents are high up in statistics specifically for teenagers. The Safe Kids Worldwide Organization found that pedestrian deaths for teens between ages 15 to 19 now account for about 50 percent of pedestrian fatalities among those who are younger than 19.

They took that link and directed it straight to distracted walking. They discovered that one in five high schoolers were found crossing the street distracted either by texting, video games, or listening to music. Luckily enough, deaths among teens are lower in texting and walking in comparison to homicide, suicide, and those killed by driving.

An incident that took place in Philadelphia at a subway station of a man who was on his phone texting is a classic example of the dangers involved with distracted texting. He continued walking while looking at his phone and ended up falling into the train tracks on accident. Luck- ily, the train was not on its way and he successfully got out of the train tracks and lived. There are many instances of similar accidents like this that have happened.

Prior legislative history

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.