Electronic Device Safety: Phones and other media devices could lead to fines
According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, an estimated 12 percent of U.S. pedestrian deaths are traffic-related, often the result of pedestrians so distracted by cell phones, ipods and other electronic devices that they are unaware of surrounding dangers like traffic, obstacles in the street or even other pedestrians.
Due to the increase in pedestrian injuries and fatalities linked to electronic devices, lawmakers are now proposing legislation to ban the use of certain portable devices and phones in certain areas while implementing a violator fine of $100.
Motley Rice attorney and former Inspector General for the Department of Transportation Mary Schiavo, commenting on the danger of pedestrian distractions, referenced the jogger who was killed on March 15, 2010, after a single-engine Lancair IV-P aircraft crashed into him.
He failed to hear the oncoming plane in time to escape the collision, which may have been a combination of the plane's silence and the fact that he was listening to music and not completely aware of his surroundings. She stated, "There's no noise...So the jogger, with his ear buds in, and the plane without an engine, you're basically a stealth aircraft. Who would expect to look up?"
Read the full article on electronic device distractions featured by ABC News.