Lithuania bans phone use in streets, doomsday for mobile-addicted pedestrians

Lithuania’s phone-addicted pedestrians will have to do without mobile devices when they cross streets under a new regulation approved on 3 October as the Baltic country seeks to curb traffic deaths.

“Pedestrians must not use mobile devices before stepping onto the street or walking across it,” transport minister Rokas Masiulis told a cabinet meeting that was broadcast live.

Starting next month, crossing the street while talking on or checking a phone could cost Lithuanians a fine of up to 40 euros ($46).

Honolulu introduced a similar law last year, though the state capital of Hawaii only banned viewing a mobile device during crossings, not talking on the phone.

Last year, 68 pedestrians were killed by cars or motorcycles in Lithuania, a eurozone member of 2.8 million people.

The rate of Lithuanian pedestrian deaths is the third worst in the European Union, after Romania and Latvia, according to the latest official data.