Put Your Smartphone Down In Honolulu When Crossing the Road

[engine]

Walking onto a crossing in Honolulu while staring into your smartphone will now get culprits a fine of up to $35.

I can't help but think this is the wrong approach. Surely, it's better to educate than to fine them!

[nytimes.com...]

[Jack_Hughes]

Always strikes me as a bit odd that somebody in a legislature feels the need to pass a law on something like this. I would have thought that the very real risk of being run over would be a bigger deterrent than the $35 fine.

[robzilla]

Surely, it's better to educate than to fine them!

Assuming this is big news in Honolulu, as it is around the world apparently, then that's pretty good awareness they're raising!

[TorontoBoy]

While I am not from Hawaii, I fully agree with this legislation. Heavy handed it is, but public service education has not helped.

Usage of smartphones is an addiction, unlike seatbelts, and thus behaviour is difficult to change. Here in Toronto I have seen two people walk into each other, back up, and walk into each other again, heads down, all while on their smartphones. I have also witnessed a guy walk straight into a telephone pole. Pedestrians have been seriously injured illegally crossing roads and into oncoming traffic. Similar legislation is being considered here in Toronto, and I approve.

This trend may indicate that, as a species, we are doomed.

[lawman]

From Wikipedia: [en.wikipedia.org...]

"The Game" is the 106th episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, the sixth episode of the fifth season.
Riker returns from a vacation on Risa with a game that he is eager to share with the crew. Unfortunately, the game is psychologically addictive (making the crew suffer from Virtual Reality Addiction), and it quickly turns nearly every member of the Enterprise's crew into a mind-controlled pawn of the Ktarians, who are using the devices to gain control of Starfleet.

[lucy24]

Surely, it's better to educate than to fine them!

Educate them about the fine, possibly. In my town, some intersections have big signs that say something like “maximum fine for running a red light $496”. You’ll hear people saying this is a stupid waste, because it’s time enough to let people find out about their fine when they actually get stopped for running the red. They don’t understand that the City doesn’t want your four hundred and ninety-six dollars. They want you to not run the red light in the first place.

Is it physically possible to make a young person (under 25, say) grasp the fact that suchandsuch action can lead to serious physical injury and possibly death? Probably not, but you can make people understand that suchandsuch action will cost them $35.