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$100 fines for walking and gaming

New Yorkers face ban on playing on handhelds, listening to iPods, and other distractions while crossing streets.

Many PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS owners who use their handhelds on their daily commutes may be familiar with the sinking sensation of realising they've missed their stop after getting too involved in a game. However, most pedestrians seem to manage to put down their handheld long enough to check that they're not stepping into oncoming traffic.

It would seem, though, that some people just can't tear themselves away. New York State Senator Carl Kruger told Reuters that three pedestrians in the Brooklyn district have been killed since September by traffic after stepping into a road while using an electronic device that distracted them from looking where they were going. In one case, a device prevented someone from hearing warnings from other pedestrians to "watch out!"

Kruger commented, "What's happening is when they're tuning into their iPod or BlackBerry or cell phone or video game, they're walking into speeding buses and moving automobiles. It's becoming a nationwide problem."

The legislation will be introduced today to ban the use of electronic gadgets, including portable game machines, BlackBerrys, mobile phones, and iPods, while crossing the road. Those who ignore the ban could face a fine of $100.

339 Comments

  • will477

    Posted Jul 20, 2007 3:54 am GMT

    Seems dumb and, as others have pointed out, hard to enforce...I mean really, if they waste security resouces by having cops overtly check people's ears for headphones and the like, what a total mismanagement of police power. It's not like they could be trying to find criminals or terrorists in NYC instead (sarcasm)...

  • French023

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 2:27 pm GMT

    What do you say at those 3 peoples funerals? How did Sam die? Well we was trading a charzard to somebody in japan.....

  • chrisdojo

    Posted Feb 12, 2007 5:01 am GMT

    lol.... fools pwnt. why would you walk & game when crossing the street anyways? isn't the "pause" feature in games for something like this?

  • Caedwhittle

    Posted Feb 12, 2007 2:42 am GMT

    How stupid.

  • rarson

    Posted Feb 11, 2007 9:16 pm GMT

    Does anyone else find this retarded? Why are we creating legislation to prevent natural selection from taking place? Let's just let nature do it's thing.

  • ManUPrincess

    Posted Feb 11, 2007 4:27 pm GMT

    so it's ok for a police officer to go up to a person whose just crossed a road and say 'we're going to fine you $100 for not getting yourself killed'. ok. that is so logical that it makes sense. so from september to febuary 3 people have been killed crossing the road out of a population of over 8 million people from listeing to ipods etc? ok and how many people have died overall from crossing the road or from gunshots? i do wonder about american mentality, some people don't really get the bigger picture.

  • BigB10123

    Posted Feb 11, 2007 12:47 pm GMT

    People are stupid if they don;t know wat is coming their way. Thank goodness I drive now and don't need to ride the bus anymore.

  • terdoo

    Posted Feb 11, 2007 8:37 am GMT

    No one is going to notice the ipod headphones

  • StillWingless

    Posted Feb 10, 2007 10:39 pm GMT

    Wow... why won't our politicians let our less-intelligent population thin themselves out in this manner? If they don't have the common sense to look both ways before crossing the street, do we really want them thinning out our gene pool as well?

  • DRUNK_CANADIAN

    Posted Feb 10, 2007 8:49 pm GMT

    ROFL 2 stupid...thank god I am Canadian

  • VegetaMaelstrom

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 7:44 pm GMT

    While these politically correct politicians are at it, why don't they just try to pass a law that makes it illegal to accidentally hit someone crossing the street with a vehicle? Why stop there? Why not try to ban death? Man, when will the stupidity of elected officials end?

  • theKSMM

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 6:54 pm GMT

    This sounds like one for the Dawin Awards, but I can't get too upset by it. I'd rather have an officer stop me and fine me than watch me get run over by the uptown bus. Still, I like to think I'm a little more aware of my surroundings than to walk out in the street whilst trying to change songs, send a message, or beat a boss level on some portable device.

    This really shouldn't affect anybody with a modicum of sense.

  • matrixman2k

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 5:50 pm GMT

    There are those of us that will always need the law to tell us what to do and control us...think of animals...otherwise we're dead.

    The rest of us are a little smarter and as such don't need to be taken by the hand and treated like some nursery...anyway.

  • UrbanMessiah

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 5:45 pm GMT

    My opinion is if you're not smart enough to pause your game, blackberry or whatever and look both ways before you cross a busy intersection? Forget a $100 fine, you deserve to be hit by a bus. Survival of the fittest, buddy. -=x

  • lilmp89

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 2:31 pm GMT

    Although I think this is a good idea...I'm really not sure how it will turn out...However, I am really not sure about it being $100. It just seems a little bit much...well, I don't live anywhere there, so good luck to those who do!

  • Mudvayne43

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 12:23 pm GMT

    Use common sense! Its a stupid law in the first place, but maybe the REAL problem is the "speeding buses"

  • lithus

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 11:24 am GMT

    Although I support the idea of the ban, I don't support it actually being implemented. This whole clusterluck of banning drivers using cell phones, saturated foods, smoking and now gaming and listening to music in public has gotten out of hand. Seriously, when does it stop? Where does it stop? How much are we going to let the local, state and federal government control our lives? Some things shouldn't be regulated despite how bad they appear. If people want to eat bad food, let them. If people want to focus on a video game and not pay attention, let them. It's common sense but don't make ME suffer for it.

  • chakan2

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 11:07 am GMT

    I think this is great. It will save me thousands when I hit some dumbass wearing an iPod.

  • Nomad013

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 10:24 am GMT

    The problem is, how do they know if you've paused the game or music? They just gonna fine you because you have headphones in your ears? How is an MP3 player any more dangerous than a walkman in the 80s and 90s? Walkmen were also more widely used, and there was no legislation banning them...

  • DeaDlyCorpsE

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 10:23 am GMT

    isnt that for ppl to use common sense or is the goverment try to help us by telling us what we can and cant do with what we own like i said on previous news topics is this the freedom that ppl fight and die for

  • racerx737

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 8:30 am GMT

    argune "common sense people look both ways before crossing the street. hand held games tend to have very nice pause features. USE THEM"

    Exactly, iPods and other music players have pause buttons too, if you reeally need to pause your music because it's distracting you so much that you can't cross the street. Let the dumb people die, or at least get hit once, save them and if they don't learn and get hit again, then let them die because if they are that stupid then they are a burden on the entire human race.

  • peacenutman

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 8:27 am GMT

    LOL @ America. At least you don't get fined for carrying it in public.

  • blackace

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 8:09 am GMT

    It's kind of stupid, but people need to pay attention to what they are doing. What's really funny about the story is that more people get hit by cars and buses in NY while not listening to iPod or playing video games. So what's the difference? This just seems like another way for NYC to get more income for the city. I don't think this law is going to stop people from listening to their music while crossing the street.

  • aura_enchanted

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 7:44 am GMT

    its a sad world when you get fined for playing your psp/ds in public. its even worse when you have to take that same fine for an ipod/mp3/cd player, or cellphone. like cmon ppl have some god damn sense. and hey if ppl are really killing themselves on crooswalks because of these devices how about you not do something because that will solve the problem of too many stupid ppl in the world (not to say theres a problem with any of you, im one myself in fact) furthermore i have a funny feeling we can see a protest by businessmen and teens everywhere about this. Just because were idiots is not an excuse to try and be stupid too

  • TekBlitz

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 7:35 am GMT

    I understand getting fined for playing games or looking at your cellphone while crossing a street, but listening to your music? I live in NYC and listen to my iPod on my way to and back from work. Correct me if I am wrong but your eyes arent bothered with the music you listen to, so it should not be a problem. Off Topic: I love the single player campaign in Call of Duty 2. Gotta love purging the planet of scum.

  • sieg6529

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 7:20 am GMT

    Why are we fighting survival of the fittest? We should allow those stupid enough to play games while walking the streets to be struck by traffic, thus removing their genes from the pool.

  • nutzelfutz

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 2:10 am GMT

    Ha! Serves you right, Americans. That's some dictatorship/fascist decision for you. Forbidding you to use a Gameboy or Walkman. Yeah, the US suck.

    >For those too dense to notice: This is a moderately offending anti-US rant. It was inspired by the US gamers bashing Gemany because some politicians forbade selling games to minors if they were deemed too violent. Ooh...oopsie-daisy...North Carolina considers game bill...exactly the same as it was proposed in Germany, by the way...yeah, really fascist for those teen gamer kiddies. No more slaughtering. Makes me cry - no wait - it makes me laugh. I'm lying on the floor. Buahaha.

  • diablobasher

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 2:05 am GMT

    Manatassi:

    I completely agree, if someone is stupis enough to get themselves killed like that, they deserve to die.

    That includes me as well though lol, I was almost hit by a bike that crashed and slid across the road towards me because i was wearing headphones, but in all fairness, that was hardly entirely my fault, the guy was going stupidly fast and slipped on a patch of oil. As for a fine? Hell no.

    I don't live their though so it doesn't affect me

  • Manatassi

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 1:10 am GMT

    Realy what we have here is natural selection. The stupid people get culled off and the species as a whole progreses

    I mean there should be no need to make laws prohibiting people from listening to an Ipod whilst walking about thats just Absurd. If some people are Dumb enough to get themselves killed by not looking they were probably going to get killed by a car anyway. Just because three of them happened to be using some form of technology people freak out. Stupid Stupid Stupid.

    Whats with all the weird Technophobia going on?

  • wenbin09

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 1:05 am GMT

    i got to be more careful when i'm crossing~~

  • argune

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 12:34 am GMT

    common sense people look both ways before crossing the street. hand held games tend to have very nice pause features. USE THEM

  • Dolacide

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 12:25 am GMT

    How stupid, why should others have to pay for these peoples stupidity, out of the millions who use these devices, and have no problem crossing the street, three die and now, lets ban them. typical.

  • Sir_Crocidile

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 12:25 am GMT

    Damn straight we should ban them. In fact I believe everyone should get this fine. To often do I see people paying attention to those electrical cross walk signs telling them when its safe to walk or not instead of watching the cars and. . .Oh wait a second. . .On a serious note, hopefully this would not include merely having headphones on your person when crossing because if I have to take them off, put them in a bag or something, and then cross, that would get annoying fast.

  • Everon22

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 12:18 am GMT

    I once saw a blond girl trip while chewing gum.

    Which leads me to my question: were they blondes?

  • anamnawshad

    Posted Feb 8, 2007 11:38 pm GMT

    Sucks.......

  • kavadias1981

    Posted Feb 8, 2007 11:21 pm GMT

    So many laws, so little sense.

  • Comingcurse

    Posted Feb 8, 2007 10:59 pm GMT

    Bring on more electronic distractions! This is the new natural selection! Idiot politicians wanting to ban everything! I thought we lived in America?!

  • legend133

    Posted Feb 8, 2007 10:51 pm GMT

    i hope this bill isn't made in to law, i love driving around brooklyn and queens mowing down morons.

  • Guis_Wa

    Posted Feb 8, 2007 10:39 pm GMT

    I agree with NinjaFoot, if we make the world too safe the idiots will breed.

  • SpyderA

    Posted Feb 8, 2007 9:29 pm GMT

    Let me qualify something real quick. I believe where I live in Michigan you are not allowed to spit your chewing tobacco onto the ground in public, but that's because it falls under littering. I have a friend that chews a can every two days. He just carries a spit bottle with him (usually a 20oz pop bottle).

  • Mr_Saturn26

    Posted Feb 8, 2007 9:29 pm GMT

    im for this, im tired of people getting killed for stupid things they should of known in the first place.

  • NinjaFoot

    Posted Feb 8, 2007 9:26 pm GMT

    It's called "Survival of the Fittest". Let Darwin weed out the morons who are too stupid to look for traffic because they are playing a game or listening to music.

  • SpyderA

    Posted Feb 8, 2007 9:24 pm GMT

    to spankz_ Yeah...it's your choice to "be an idiot and not look both ways or pay attention just as people can choose to smoke or eat fast food." But at the same time...what about the rights of the person, who's car you demolish...and then their insurance rates and then your (or person x's) family's lawsuit to the driver for manslaughter? Not to mention the hindered traffic, the clean up crews, the possible trauma of the driver, etc etc. Whether it's your decision or not...it still has rippling effects that reach others. Interesting that you mention smoking...most of the public smoking bans aren't to keep you from smoking, they are to keep your smoke from entering the air of those who choose not to smoke. Why do you think there aren't many (if at all) public chewing tobacco bans? All the detriment in that is self contained. I'm sure my comment will incite anger, but I hope that others will see the sense in it as well. As for this article, the ban could happen or not. Some people will get caught and fined but most people won't. I doubt there will be special police teams for the task. But the cops on patrol will probably ticket anyone they happen to see. Right now I'm in Japan. I listen to music on my psp wherever I go. I seem to do okay, so I don't need this law to help me out. At the same time, if this ban took effect here, I'd follow it, though to be honest I think it's the post office guys on scooter-bikes that need to be cautioned. That being said, some people do need the reminder. Even if you aren't going to pause the music and wait for the traffic sign to legally allow you to cross, you can still look both ways. But I think the point is, that the people's negligence, that aren't paying attention, sad as their deaths may be, are still creating problems for the other people who may not be acting negligently. Thus, the bill.

  • TryMe01

    Posted Feb 8, 2007 9:12 pm GMT

    so does that mean that i can listen to my mp3 player as long as its not an iPod when i go to NYC?

    this law is completely obsured

  • Kfoss

    Posted Feb 8, 2007 9:05 pm GMT

    get real..and just how do they expect to enforce that?....talk about state control over ones being....and how about the drivers fault...for not paying enough attention...granted if one was to walk in front of a bus then that would tragic...lol laws against mass stupidity....

  • partytimekegs

    Posted Feb 8, 2007 8:53 pm GMT

    Okay everyone stop thinking, cause thats going to be illegal in the future too.

  • CoricidinDXM

    Posted Feb 8, 2007 8:21 pm GMT

    darwin awards, heh funny book man

  • tonyleo01

    Posted Feb 8, 2007 8:16 pm GMT

    Before long they're gonna stop us from singing in the car...

  • robfield

    Posted Feb 8, 2007 7:56 pm GMT

    who is gonna enforce that?

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