Honolulu punishes "telephone zombies"

Honolulu has become the first American city to punish the so-called. telephone zombies, that is, those who look at the phone as they cross the street.
Authorities in this Hawaiian city have adopted a rather strict law, according to which even a quick look at the phone while crossing the street carries a penalty of 15 to 35 dollars. Those who are caught the other way will be fined $ 99, which is a penalty for a repeated offense.
"For very obvious reasons, your eyes do not look where they should look, it's a huge risk, as pedestrians are in traffic. It's enough for just a few seconds to look at the phone and it can be fatal for you," says James Shayer from the Police Station in Honolulu.
Pedestrians, despite the new law, will still be able to talk as they cross the street. The only exception to watching the phone's display will be in case of an emergency call.
Otherwise, this law, known as "Disoriented walking", was adopted in July, but it took three months for it to begin its application.
Namely, these three months have been used to educate pedestrians in order to familiarize them with all the provisions of the new law. Otherwise, Mayor Kirk Kaldwell said they had decided on this law after an increased number of traffic accidents that were caused by precisely pedestrians who were scattered over the street. In fact, the number of pedestrians hit at crossings is higher than in any other American city, and among the injured are a large number of elderly people.
The latest law, which some call it and "zombie law", is something that could be introduced to other US cities as there is obviously a need for it.
At the beginning of the year, a similar law was to be introduced in Canada. Namely, the Toronto City Council requested an amendment to the existing law on traffic, requiring penalties for disoriented pedestrians, who were passing by on the street.
Instead, the province authorities in Toronto have rejected this proposal, stating that it is necessary to go into pedestrian education, not punishment.
This opinion is shared by Klint Stibe, a traffic policeman from Toronto, who says that a "new law for common sense" should not be introduced.
"Instead of introducing new laws, we must force pedestrians to use common sense and take responsibility for their safety," says Stibe.