Rhode Island Lawyer, David Slepkow

These findings come as pedestrian fatalities are on the rise nationwide. A pedestrian now dies roughly once every two hours in a traffic collision, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Though the federal government doesn’t tally how many deaths involved an electronic device, the problem of people walking on busy roads with their eyes on a phone and headphones in their ears has become serious enough that the government is dishing out money to fight it. When the Department of Transportation announced $2 million to combat pedestrian deaths, distracted walking was singled out as a problem that needs to be addressed. Recipients of the grants have not yet been announced, but the money will go to places where pedestrians are more likely to be victims; in New York City, for instance, travelers who are on foot account for more than 50% of traffic collision deaths.

“It’s like a drug. People are addicted to it.”That comes on top of a $400,000 federal grant given to TriMet, the public transit service in Portland, Ore. This February, TriMet will start testing buses outfitted with different types of gear designed to wake pedestrians up. Over six months, officials will conduct the nation’s first research on whether bright headlights or audio messages like “Pedestrians, bus is turning” or big signs that simply say “BUS” are best at cutting through the electronic fog. “It is something we face daily in our work,” says TriMet’s Roberta Altstadt. “People are out there and they’re just not paying attention no matter what we say.”

Lawmakers in at least five states have attempted to pass laws that address distracted walking, but the measures have so far fallen flat. In 2013, Nevada Assemblyman Harvey Munford proposed making it a crime to type or text while crossing a highway. “I notice it when I’m driving, people texting away on that phone. As soon as school is dismissed, students are out the door and the first thing they’re doing is pulling out their phones. I see it when I’m driving up and down where the resorts are on the Strip,” Munford says. “It’s like a drug. People are addicted to it.”

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