Honolulu targets "smartphone zombies" with crosswalk ban

Hawaii’s largest city Honolulu has become the first major US city to pass legislation aimed at reducing injuries and deaths from “distracted walking.”

According to a University of Maryland study published in 2015, more than 11,000 injuries have resulted from phone-related distraction while walking in the US between 2000 and 2011. (File photo)
Reuters

According to a University of Maryland study published in 2015, more than 11,000 injuries have resulted from phone-related distraction while walking in the US between 2000 and 2011. (File photo)

A ban on pedestrians looking at mobile phones or texting while crossing the street took effect in Hawaii’s largest city Honolulu on Wednesday. 

Honolulu has become the first major US city to pass legislation aimed at reducing injuries and deaths from “distracted walking.”

More than 11,000 injuries resulted from phone-related distraction while walking in the United States between 2000 and 2011, according to a University of Maryland study published in 2015.

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Starting October 25, Honolulu pedestrians will be fined between $15 and $99, depending on the number of times police catch them looking at a phone or tablet device as they cross the street, Mayor Kirk Caldwell told reporters gathered near one of the city’s busiest downtown intersections in July.

“We hold the unfortunate distinction of being a major city with more pedestrians being hit in crosswalks, particularly our seniors, than almost any other city in the county,” Caldwell said. 

The ban comes as cities around the world grapple with how to protect phone-obsessed “smartphone zombies” from injuring themselves by stepping into traffic or running into stationary objects.

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