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Would You Ban Texting and Walking?

Honolulu, Hawaii, passed a law against texting while walking. Should your town be next

Heather Weston

    You’re walking home when your phone buzzes. You look down to see that your friend just liked your selfie on Instagram. You’re scrolling through the comments when

    SCREECH! A car slams on its brakes. You have walked into a busy crosswalk.

    Hopefully, nothing this scary has ever happened to you. But walking while using a phoneor distracted walkinghas become very common. And it’s incredibly dangerous. Between 2000 and 2011, distracted walking caused more than 11,000 injuries in the U.S.

    Taylor Fujimoto, 17, goes to Waipahu High School in Honolulu, Hawaii. She and her classmates decided to do something about distracted walking

    They did research. They met with city leaders. And in 2017, Honolulu passed a law. The law made it illegal to cross the street while looking at a phone

    Now other cities are passing similar laws. Should your city be one of them?

A Big Deal?

    Distracted walking may not seem like a big deal. After all, you’re just looking at your phone for a second, right? You may think you’re able to see what is going on around you.

    But scientists have done studies that prove that’s not true. Our brains can’t pay attention to our phones and our surroundings at the same time. That’s why people who are texting and walking are four times more likely to do something dangerouslike cross the street without looking

Common Sense

Laurentiu Garofeanu/Barcoft Media via Getty Images

    Some people say that passing laws against distracted walking goes too far. But people who support these laws often use seat belts as an example. Many people didn’t wear seat belts until laws were passed that made it illegal to drive without them. These laws have saved lives. The same could be true for texting and walking. People won’t stop until there is a law that says they have to.

    Still, there are other ways to deal with distracted walking. A group in New Jersey is working on an app to help. It would warn you when you get to a crosswalk. And in London, England, some lampposts have been padded. This protects people who run into them

    There may not be a law against distracted walking in your town. But it’s important to protect yourself. If you’re walking and your phone buzzes, ignore it. Don’t look until you get to where you’re going. Is a text really worth risking your safety

ACTIVITY
Would You Ban Texting
and Walking?

What to do: Use evidence from the article to support each side of this debate. Write the information on the lines below.

YesThe world would be safer.

No! A law isn’t needed.

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