The NY Times has an interesting story on state legislators proposing bans on listening to music players or texting while bicycling or walking. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/26/us/26runners.html?_r=1&src=fbmain
It seems to be a classic example of legislation by anecdote, unimpeded by actual knowledge.
In fact, pedestrian fatalities declined 16% over the time that Americans presumably increased their walking while distracted. Fatalities dropped to 4,091 in 2009 from 4,892 in 2005. The story says there was a slight upturn in 2010, but that doesn't seem to have been the reason legislators decided to act.
Among the states, Arizona and Florida had the largest increases in pedestrian fatalities, followed by North Carolina, Oregon and Oklahoma. The study doesn't say whether those states had the largest increase in sales of iPods or Blackberrys -- facts that might have provided a rationale for the proposed laws.
New York State Sen. Carl Kruger of Brooklyn, proposed a bill that would apply to pedestrians in cities of one million or more. “This is not government interference,” he said. “This is more like saying, ‘You’re doing something that could be detrimental to yourself and others around you.’ ”
Kruger has a funny way of defining "not government interference."
Examples like this of legislating for the sake of legislating are enough to turn me into a full-fledged libertarian.
Biden takes a wrong step
6 days ago
The legislation calls for pedestrians not to listen to music or text WHILE CROSSING THE STREET. I thought the idea was ridiculous as well--until today. I witnessed a woman walking in the street listening to music, totally oblivious to the car behind her. When the driver honked, the woman didn't hear her. I yelled to her there was a car behind her, and she moved. This incident isn't the kind that will show up in any statistics, but it is a clear example of a distracted pedestrian--and the cause was buds in her ears. I don't think this legislation is the answer, but maybe it will get the attention of the distracted pedestrians I see every day in the city.
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