The Pedestrian Council of Australia (PDA) is pushing for legislation to be introduced to deter people from using their phones while crossing the road. PDA chairman Harold Scruby wants to see pedestrians hit with a $200 fine if they use their devices or noise-cancelling headphones as they cross a street. "We want a special penalty which would be called cross road while distracted," Mr Scruby said. "There'd be a penalty for the use of any device while crossing the road. He added: "We've spent 8-10 years advertising, now it's time for enforcement." An observational study, conducted by NRMA in Sydney, found that 36 per cent of pedestrians crossed the road while distracted by their smartphone or wearing earphones. READ ALSO The findings were released in NRMA's pedestrian safety report, Look Up. It also found 7.5 per cent of pedestrians crossed the road illegally and 3.4% crossed illegally while using their smartphone or wearing earphones. Mr Scruby said with such a high number of pedestrians being distracted by their devices, a penalty needed to be introduced to minimise the chance of accidents. "A lot of people say if they [pedestrians] are going to be stupid, it's their problem but the fact is the cost of road trauma per annum is about $30billion and much of that is pedestrian trauma," Mr Scruby said. Mr Scruby added: "At the moment there's no stopping people wearing noise-cancelling headphones and stepping out on pedestrian crossing or a green light without looking, listening, stopping, thinking. "They're in la la land. They're not aware of the imminent danger surrounding them. Mr Scruby also said the $200 fine was a sufficient penalty. "If you park your car and go five minutes over on a parking meter, it's about $110 [fine] where there's no potential for harm so why wouldn't you have a considerable amount more for this," he said.
The Pedestrian Council of Australia (PDA) is pushing for legislation to be introduced to deter people from using their phones while crossing the road.
PDA chairman Harold Scruby wants to see pedestrians hit with a $200 fine if they use their devices or noise-cancelling headphones as they cross a street.
"We want a special penalty which would be called cross road while distracted," Mr Scruby said.
"There'd be a penalty for the use of any device while crossing the road.
He added: "We've spent 8-10 years advertising, now it's time for enforcement."
An observational study, conducted by NRMA in Sydney, found that 36 per cent of pedestrians crossed the road while distracted by their smartphone or wearing earphones.
The findings were released in NRMA's pedestrian safety report, Look Up.
It also found 7.5 per cent of pedestrians crossed the road illegally and 3.Read More – Source
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