美小鎮將對走路發短信者罰款

美國新澤西州的利堡小鎮警方近期宣佈，凡在該地區發現邊走路邊發短信的行人，將一律罰款85美元。利堡警察局局長表示，走路時發短信會讓行人分神而不注意看路，以至於他們根本不知道自己在往哪走，但是很多人都意識不到這一點。這位局長指出，今年該地區已經發生三起行人死亡事故，他希望罰款措施能夠提高人們的安全意識。不過當地有不少人都對這一措施表示不解，有人表示自己走路發短信時也會注意看路，而有人則表示85美元的罰金太高。據悉，到目前爲止，當地警方已經開出117個走路發短信的罰單。

Avid texters beware: Fort Lee, N.J. police said they will begin issuing $85 jaywalking tickets to pedestrians who are caught texting while walking.

"It's a big distraction. Pedestrians aren't watching where they are going and they are not aware," said Thomas Ripoli, chief of the Fort Lee Police Department.

Ripoli said the borough, which is home to approximately 35,000 residents, has suffered three fatal pedestrian-involved accidents this year. He hopes his crackdown on people who display dangerous behavior while walking will make his town safer, but not everyone is on board with the idea of issuing $85 tickets.

"When I walk I still look around. I'm not like constantly looking down the whole time," said resident Sue Choe.

Another woman complained about the tickets were "a lot of money."

Officers handed out pamphlets during a short grace period in March before they began aggressively going after "dangerous walkers."

More than 117 tickets have been issued, according to the New Jersey Record.

Two professors at Stony Brook University in New York conducted a study on walking and texting. They found texters are 60 percent more likely to veer off line than non-texters.

"We want to raise awareness that a real disruption occurs because of texting," Eric Lamberg, co-author of the study, told Long Island Business News. "Texting disrupts your ability much more than does talking."