N.Y. senator wants to ban iPods, Blackberries while crossing the street

Adam Turner
Thursday, 08 February 2007 01:56

Opinion and Analysis

New Yorkers will no longer be wired for sound under State Senator Carl Kruger's proposal to ban the use of MP3 players, PDAs and cell phones while crossing the street.

Krueger wants people to listen both ways before they cross the road after two or three pedestrians were struck down since September in his district of Brooklyn. One apparently stepped in front of a bus whilst listening to music.

It would seem Krueger's plan is not just aimed at jaywalkers but even those doing the right thing and crossing at the lights. Talk is of a $100 fine (would it be $200 if you were using an iPhone?).

This is crazy, people need to be saved from their own stupidity but you can only go so far. What's next, banning billboards in case people get distracted whilst crossing the street? How about banning talking to the person next to you as well, just in case?

How would you enforce such a ban? Cops on every street corner? What if their shiny badge distracts someone who then staggers dazed in front of the crosstown?

Walkmans have been around for thirty years, yet this hipster doofus wants to ban music players on the street as a knee jerk reaction to an age old problem. People need to look where they're going and they also need to take responsibility for their actions.