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Philadelphia cracks down on texting and walking
Philadelphia has taken what most savvy travelers would call a "safety" issue and turning it into a legal one ... sort of. The city is issuing warnings to pedestrians who walk down the street and text or play on their smartphones.
The practice, while annoying to other pedestrians and motorists who may suffer from your lack of paying attention, isn't illegal, but highly discouraged.
"Pedestrians may be reminded to be more aware of their surroundings; however, there are no citations issued by the PPD for texting while walking," said Rina Cutler, Philadelphia Deputy Mayor for Transportation and Public Utilities, in a statement obtained by NBC Philadelphia.
The only offense for which one can receive a ticket is jaywalking.
The city is using grant money to fund the cost of increased enforcement.
What do you think, friends of the City of Brotherly Love? Should texting and walking be a ticket-able or warn-able offense? Will you be more cognizant of your texting behavior when you next visit Philadelphia?
[Flickr via Ed Yourdon]
Filed under: News, Travel Security
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
tc Jul 19th 2011 4:14PM
I support police officers in their work.
One way to do this is to not harrass citizens unlawfully about actions they someone in gov't doesn't like. Issuing a warning to someone for a lawful activity? How bizarre is that?
Since legislatures pass laws virtually EVERY day the rights of citizens are being decimated one "nail" at a time.
Let's support our police and the govt by actively guiding legislatures to only pass laws that the majority really want and will benefit from and the default should always go to sustaining freedom and public safety. Girl walks into a fountain while texting. Laugh? Or pass a law?
Ed Yourdon Jul 19th 2011 5:13PM
Interesting blog posting ... but I was amused to see that the blog was about Philadelphia, but the photo (which I took, and am therefore quite familiar with) was taken in San Francisco... :)
Ed
McLean Jul 19th 2011 5:15PM
Ha, thanks Ed. It was such a beautiful photo of texting and walking, I couldn't resist using it!
Ed Yourdon Jul 19th 2011 5:45PM
McLean,
No problem at all -- I'm delighted that it worked in your blog. But I'm always intrigued when I see one of my photos used in an entirely different context than the one in which I photographed it. Probably the most striking example was a photo I took of a young woman looking at her cellphone at an outdoor cafe in Manhattan, which showed up in a Turkish blog about finding tour guides in Istanbul.... :)
Ed
Caroline Jul 19th 2011 10:08PM
Check out the Gawker post again: there will be no ticketing for texting and walking in Philadelphia:
http://gawker.com/5822431/texting-while-walking-is-now-a-crime-in-philadelphia
Update: Mark McDonald, Press Secretary for Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, writes in:
The Max Read story you have today is utterly false. There is no policy, plan or activity in Philadelphia where pedestrians are being ticketed for texting.
McLean Jul 19th 2011 10:11PM
Caroline,
You'll note that our story didn't suggest that people would be ticketed (that information was incorrectly reported by other outlets earlier in the day). Our post suggests that people will be WARNED for texting and talking, but that the only ticket-able offense is jaywalking.
Antoin Jul 20th 2011 8:27AM
I'm from Philly but am out of the country for the next few months...this will be a 'nice' Homecoming. :/ I guess I can't switch songs either.
James Leary Jul 20th 2011 8:27AM
Pretty much every abandoned house is a crack house it seems. I just can't believe you went inside at night,
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nancy greene Jul 20th 2011 8:28AM
yeah this an great issue.. i also seen that people crossing the road as well as playing on their cell or smartphone at the same time... when you are crossing the road you should be aware of such things...i think its not good for you as well as others...
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Alex Jul 20th 2011 9:02AM
I'm from Philly and it was announced today that this story is in fact a rumor and completely erroneous. Do some better research next time Gadling, don't believe everything you read on the internet.