texting ban

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Honolulu Takes Big Step to Combat 'Smartphone Zombies'

Law bans looking at smartphone, texting while crossing the street

(Newser) - You won't find padded lampposts in Honolulu. That's because the Hawaiian city hopes to discourage pedestrians from "distracted walking" altogether, notably with one piece of legislation its mayor signed into law late last week, Reuters reports. Per the new mandate to combat "smartphone zombies," pedestrians...

You Could Be Liable for Texting a Driver

Distracted-driving laws still murky, but more onus being placed on message senders

(Newser) - Court rulings in Pennsylvania and New Jersey are taking texting-while-driving laws down a new road, opening the door to not only holding the offending driver liable for a car accident, but perhaps also the person texting the driver, Consumerist reports. In neither case has anyone (yet) had to legally...

NJ Bill Would Jail People for Texting While Walking

Offenders could see 15 days in jail under assemblywoman's proposal

(Newser) - Texting while walking? Beware. Doing exactly that in New Jersey could soon carry the same penalties as jaywalking: up to a $50 fine and 15 days in jail. Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt has proposed a bill that would ban pedestrians from using communication devices like cellphones while walking along roads or...

'Ninjas' Shock Filmgoers Into Shutting Up

Prince Charles Cinema in London brings in black-clad patrol

(Newser) - Next time you're chatting at the movies, don't be alarmed if ninjas—or people in dark body suits, anyway—swoop in out of nowhere. So far only the Prince Charles Cinema in London has brought in volunteer "ninjas" to enforce rules against chatting, seat-kicking, popcorn-throwing, etc, Slashfilm...

Texting While Driving Surges
 Texting While Driving Surges 
survey says

Texting While Driving Surges

Up 50% last year: survey

(Newser) - Despite 35 states now banning it, the practice of texting while driving continues to increase, according to new research. An observational study conducted at selected stoplights and intersections last year found that at any given moment, 0.9% of drivers were using a hand-held device; that's up from 0....

Philly Targeting People Who Text ... While Walking

Safety program focuses on distracted pedestrians

(Newser) - Police in Philadelphia are stepping up their campaign against bad behavior on the city's thoroughfares—and distracted pedestrians are as much a target as distracted drivers and sidewalk cyclists, officials say. Officers enforcing the "Give Respect, Get Respect" program in the city center will be looking out for...

Texting, Driving Has Killed 16K in US

And it's spiked since 2005

(Newser) - Sure, you know that distracted driving causes fender-benders, but what about 16,000 deaths? That's how many Americans died because of texting while driving from 2001 to 2007, reports Aol News, with a new study citing a significant spike in the years since 2005. "Distracted driving has reached epidemic...

Grisly Don't-Text-and-Drive Ad Comes to US

UK mini-movie to be edited to 30 seconds

(Newser) - A blood-soaked UK ad warning of the consequences of driving while texting has made its way stateside, albeit in a highly edited form. The original ad clocks in at four minutes, showing in slow, excruciating detail the results of a fictionalized three-car crash. There's a lot of blood, dead teenagers,...

Txt Ban Prposd 4 Cal Cyclists
 Txt Ban Prposd 4 Cal Cyclists 

Txt Ban Prposd 4 Cal Cyclists

Bill sparks debate among spokesmen

(Newser) - Next on the list of people barred from texting could be California cyclists. Distracted drivers aren't the only menace on the road, and state politicians plan to crack down on bike riders too busy texting to watch what they're doing. The bill has sparked a firestorm of controversy in California,...

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