New York to Fine Pedestrians Using Gadgets

New York pedestrians may soon be fined $100, for using their iPods while crossing streets in the city. A new York senator has announced that he plans to introduce a new legislation, according to which, the use of electronic devices such as MP3 players, BlackBerrys and cell phones will be banned on major streets in New York.

Senator Carl Krueger claimed that the phenomenon of ‘iPod oblivion’ has led to a number of fatal accidents on urban streets. He did not cite any statistics on the matter, but referred to the January death of a 23-year-old Brooklyn man who, tuned into his iPod headphones, walked into the path of a city bus. Krueger stressed that pedestrians can’t be fully aware of their surroundings when they are fiddling with a BlackBerry, dialing a phone number, playing Super Mario Brothers on a Game Boy, or listening to music on an iPod. He added that while police in other major cities, such as San Diego, Calif have warned that tuning in to portable electronic devices may leave pedestrians vulnerable to threats from pickpockets and muggers, he believes the real threat is from road traffic.

The new bill aims to make it illegal to use any kind of portable electronic device, including a music or video player, cell phone, smart phone or gaming device, while crossing the street in cities such as New York, Albany and Buffalo. Offenders will have to shell out $100 as fine and face a criminal court summons. The senator also said that joggers and bicyclists would have to limit their iPod use to city parks in which no street crossing would be involved.

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