Arkansas, New York Want Restrictions on Electronic Use While Walking

Posted 01/26/2011 at 6:31am | by Paul Lilly

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If you have trouble chewing bubble gum and walking at the same time, you should probably wait until you're stationary before whipping out your cell phone to fire off a text. For those of you who live in Arkansas or New York, restrictions such as this could be law as both states seek to limit the use of cell phones, music players, and other mobile devices while walking or running, according to an AP report.

"It's not just distracted drivers. We focus a lot on distracted drivers, but we also need to focus on distracted walkers and joggers," said Jonathan Adkins, a spokesman for the Governors Highway Safety Association.

Arkansas proposes banning pedestrians from wearing headphones in both ears while on, parallel, or adjacent to a street, road, intersection, or highway. The restriction would apply to both joggers and cyclists, who would still be able to listen to music in one ear.

In New York, State Sen. Carl Kruger has been trying to ban the use of mobile electronics when crossing the street in major cities with at least a million residents.

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