Yes, you read correctly: A town in New Jersey has recently passed a bill to fine people caught recklessly texting while on foot.
Apparently fed up with the current incidents (which had skyrocketed past 20 accounts) related to pedestrians thumbing away on their keypads, carelessly walking onto the road and getting hit, police have now been given the power to fine people caught in the act, apparently issuing more than 117 tickets already at $85 a pop.
Clearly 20 people who can’t handle the shit they’re into have ruined it for everyone else.
“It’s a big distraction. Pedestrians aren’t watching where they’re going. They’re not aware”, Fort Lee Police Department (FLPD) Chief Thomas Ripoli said during a press conference, stating that the FLPD is cracking down on sidewalk shenanigans, looking for people “walking dangerously”. Ugh.
Residents in fear of getting busted for breaking these laws without thinking can relax though as the city will be sending out pamphlets – I wonder how much that cost rate payers…but I digress. We can only sit and hope that this law / blatant disregard for our civil liberties doesn’t catch on…though all I’ll say is don’t be surprised if it does, they really like revenue-raising tactics here.
I wonder if they’ll introduce ‘Standing Texting Zones’ in high traffic areas? They’ll probably just end up taxing those too.
