politics

Yamato city aims to ban phone use while walking

21 Comments
By CHARLY TRIBALLEAU

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21 Comments
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while I admit that people who use their phone while walking, driving or cycling are a danger to themselves and those around them, I can't imagine how will this law be enforced and is probably more trouble than the problem it was supposed to solve.

But Yasumi said there will be no punishment for those unable to tear themselves away from their screens in the street.

now tell me, do you expect pedestrians to "pull up" to the side of the walkway just to use their phone if they have to be somewhere else? If this lawmaker is just in it to catch attention, he succeeded. How about banning people from smoking while riding their bikes or in their cars instead?

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Nothing makes me happier than when a phone zombie walks straIght into my brickhouse shoulder or chest and drop their phone, or even better, themselves to the ground.

6 ( +10 / -4 )

Enforce the non smoking in public areas first.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

Pass all the laws you want. In the end it's all about enforcement.

A girl on a bicycle almost hit me because she couldn't be bothered to look up from her smartphone.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Of course it should be banned.There is no

reason to be walking and talking at the same time!

2 ( +4 / -2 )

This is a good idea and should be implemented nationwide nit just in Japan but in every country where these idiots pose a danger to themselves and others by diluting their environmental awareness while in motion. Yes, for predestrians it is difficult to enforce, but such difficulty is not a reason to make it illegal. If an accident occurs be it person/person or vehicle or bicycle, the fact that the pedtruan was using the phone at the time should weigh heavily against them in terms of responsibility.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

@Speed, Forearm Shiver!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Nothing wrong with making a phone call, its the zombie brain dead morons staring at the screen playing games sending SNS messages and looking at manga that is the problem.

Did you not read the part where it said "those unable to tear themselves away from their screens in the street"

Phone uses ear and mouth , the screen is the problem.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Another Toothless Ban

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Great safety bill!

In Hawaii it's illegal to use your smartphone crossing the street.

Even touching your phone while driving too.

Just a warning to all you Hawaii tourist zombies out there.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

When a moron walks into me while staring into their cell phone I step hard onto their foot and ankle area and that gets their attention.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Great!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Best idea (except for the lack of punishment) I have heard from a local authority anywhere for a long time. Agreed enforcement might be a problem but if a police man sees someone offending and immediately impounds the phone, the message will soon get through. I see no problem with having to wait until you can safely step to one side out of the flow of traffic before answering or making a call. I also agree with other posters above, playing games/texting etc. is a major an unnecessary problem. Any accident where one party was using a phone should make them wholly liable unless they can show they were not the contributory/cause.

Problem solved!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

What about using Google Map to get directions?

They going to ban that too?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

right think indeed

0 ( +0 / -0 )

i see it is a disease if you too much cling to phone.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posters and messages will inform citizens of the rule, expected to take effect from next month.

This is what its really all about. An excuse for a local government to put up more signs and posters explaining rules to people.

The company ran a computer simulation of what would occur if 1,500 people used the hectic Shibuya pedestrian crossing in Tokyo while all looking at their smartphones.

> The results showed that two-thirds would not make it to the other side without incident, with 446 collisions, 103 people being knocked down and 21 dropping their phones.

This is incredibly stupid. You don't need to run an experimental computer simulation about pedestrians using the Shibuya crossing, there is an actual Shibuya crossing with real people crossing it which exists and you can just see what the actual situation there is in real life.

At the real Shibuya crossing, 446 collisions do not occur with 103 people being knocked to the ground every time the bloody lights turn green! I imagine people getting knocked to the ground is, while not unheard of, a relatively uncommon incident.

Why? Because in real life 100% of people are not looking at their cell phones when they cross the street.

Don't get me wrong, I hate it when people look at their cell phones when they walk or ride a bike or drive a car. But this is just BS.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

But Yasumi said there will be no punishment for those............

Then what’s the point? Quit wasting time and money and do something productive then.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

There is a big difference between careless and reckless use and responsible use. Note that even without cell phones people have bumped into others and crashed their bicycles for ages. Any of you ever heard of books perhaps? Steven King has a few incidents reading while walking. As a responsible user liable to use my phone at any time, I don't want to be lumped in with fools who cannot figure out when the cell phone use has reached the point one should move aside and stop moving to continue.

I am good with Japan's toothless laws so long as its a good law. Japanese tend to obey and be sensible. They don't need to be treated like Americans.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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