She claims that with more people becoming distracted by their evolving gadgets, laws managing their use have to follow. "Distracted pedestrians, like distracted drivers, present a potential danger to themselves and drivers on the road. A pedestrian distracted by their device and unaware of oncoming traffic may cause unsuspecting drivers to brake suddenly or swerve out of the way, creating a potentially deadly situation," Lampitt is quoted as saying.
Comment: New York has figured this out, what's wrong with New Jersey?
Meanwhile, experts have been citing links between distracted walking and pedestrian injury for some time now. According to a study by Corey Basch, associate professor of public health at William Patterson University, based on observing the behavior of some 21,000 pedestrians at five busy Manhattan intersections, "it came as a surprise that there were so many pedestrians distracted by technology during the walk signal, but the fact that there were even more distracted by technology crossing on a 'don't walk' signal is astonishing. It's clearly a public health concern".
Comment: Since most cops cannot be persuaded by calls for compassion, empathy and caring maybe hitting them in their wallets would be a good start. Would professional liability insurance requirement for police weed out the bad cops?