Councillor says Calgary should consider 'distracted walking' fine

Wandering into traffic without looking both ways; bumping into passersby while your head is in the Cloud; tripping while texting.

This isn’t how we were trained as children to act while walking near traffic. Yet more often than ever before, Canadians seem to be taking their safety for granted by walking while distracted.

And one Calgary city councillor thinks it has to stop.

“It’s quite apparent now, and it’s across North America, that everybody’s involved in their electronics,” Councillor Ward Sutherland told CTV News this week. “They have their heads down, they’re not paying attention. Just the attitude that, I have the right and you better stop for me is not smart, safe thinking to begin with.”

The Calgary councillor says distracted driving laws should be expanded to address inattentive pedestrians as well, perhaps fining those that threaten themselves and others by sticking their noses in electronic devices.

Distracting walking has been proven to be dangerous in various studies. A University of Buffalo study found that more people are walking while distracted than driving, per mile.

A Stony Brook University study confirmed the obvious: Texting or talking on the phone while walking can throw off your ability to navigate through traffic. Another study, from Ohio State University, found that emergency room visits by those injured while on the phone tripled between 2004 and 2010.

Despite the dangers, the prevalence of distracted driving is increasing as quickly as technology allows. An observational study conducted in Vancouver found that nearly 30 per cent of the 1,102 pedestrians being observed committed a distracting behaviour while crossing the street – such as listening to music or texting.

“What happened to the old days where you look both ways and cross the street? Now it’s, I have a right and I’m into my electronics and I think it’s white, now I’m just walking, there’s responsibility on both sides,” Sutherland told the network.

Sutherland says he wants to discuss the topic with the police commission over the holiday break, and consider moving forward in the New Year.

Staff Sgt. Paul Stacey, from Calgary police’s traffic safety division, said it is important to raise awareness about pedestrian safety.

There are on average 500 collisions between car and pedestrian in Calgary every year. And distracting behaviour, both on the part of driver and pedestrian, play a role in that.

“What the councillor’s point was is trying to raise awareness to the fact that it is not always the vehicles, or the drivers of the vehicles, that are the cause of these collisions,” Stacy told Yahoo Canada News.

“Oftentimes, the pedestrians are as much to blame as the drivers, or more so.”

Stacy says there is no fine for distracted walking, though a $25 jaywalking fine might be appropriate in some cases. So could a $60 fine for jaywalking on a transit corridor.

He added that Calgary police have held pedestrian safety blitzes in the past, with the intention of raising awareness of the dangers of distracted walking.

“Depending on how things go, it might be time again,” he said.

Police in other parts of the country have issues recent crackdowns on distracted pedestrians.

Toronto police hold what seems to be an annual blitz against distracted and careless pedestrians. So far this year, 23 pedestrians have been killed in the city – making them two-thirds of all traffic fatalities.

In Calgary, there have been seven pedestrian fatalities this calendar year. And while not all of those deaths can be attributed to personal distraction, many other near-misses certainly can.

While the notion of implementing a fine for distracted walking would be a first in Canada, it isn’t unheard of.

In Rexburg, Idaho, pedestrians can be fined more than $100 if they are caught texting in a crosswalk. Fort Lee, N.J., has its own $85 texting fine, and Taiwan is considering a similar law.

Is it possible that Canadian cities follow that path? Perhaps. At one point it would have seen absurd to have a law against driving while speaking on the phone. Now distracted driving laws are commonplace.

Walking could be next. Though it’s not happening in Calgary any time soon.