Kids and cell phones: A crosswalk hazard?

It's not the cell phones that are the danger . . . it's the pure lack of common sense. If people actually used some once in a while we'd all be better off!

Amen.

Exactly. My generation grew up without cell phones and we survived just fine.

Same here.  Of course, it would have been hard to service cell towers what with the roving mastodons, and the snow blowing eight miles uphill both ways in the corn fields, and being respectful to our elders, and TB kept us mindful, I tell you what.

Andrea, your generation also grew up with pay phones at every corner. Try to find a pay phone nowadays.

EXACTLY!!! Try and find a pay phone in your town. I would be willing to bet that there are exactly NONE. I don't know of ANY pay phones where I live. Everyone, it seems, has a cell phone, including me. I also have text messaging, internet, music, and who knows what else on my phone. Its like my own personal mini-computer, and a great way to stay in touch with the world while out and about.

Well, the kids learn from their parents. I see people who are constantly on their phones, in the grocery store, at the check out, in the movies, in the car swerving into my lane...everywhere. Some people think they will die if they aren't talking to someone.

Get off the damn phone! It's not that important to be running your mouth 24-7!

Drivers who don't practice this are acting inconsiderate and disrespectful and exhibit diminished value for human life.

BULL!!!  It's your responsibility to watch where you're going AT ALL TIMES, whether you're in a car or on foot.  As James 303405 (post#2) says, people are getting dumber by the day!!

It's also your responsibility to teachyour kids that they're not the only people on the planet; it's a shared existance and we all need to be aware of each other.

Kids, ages 1 through 15 or so, usually are thoughtless, so yes, I'll be especially careful around them.  You, however, profess to be an adult, so act like one.  You can't pick and choose which parts of your life you want me to stay out of .  If you want to make it my responsibility to hold your hand while crossing the street, then fine; I also should control your every other move e.g., I'll decide where/how you'll live and give you an allowance.  I'll also see to it that your're neutered so that one day my job of 24 hour child maintenance will end! 

As far as the law is concered, Do Something is correct sadly. If your vehicle hits a pedestrian you are at fault. The circumstances of the accident will determine how stiff a fine you get or what you get charged with, but in the end it is still your fault.

Scary, but true.

This is kind of like if you rear end another car, it is your fault. Even if they slam on their breaks for no apparent reason. Why? Because you should not have followed them so closely.

As for his later comments ... I don't agree with. Sometimes people really do step out in front of you and I don't think that means you devaule human life. People should know, and kids should be told that you always look before steping out. Sure, it may be the drivers fault, but that's cold confort if your dead.

That is just not true.

A vehicle has to yeild to a pedestrian in a cross walk, but a pedestrian also has to yeild to vehicles before stepping into that cross walk unless there is a lighted "WALK" sign. If there is no electronic device or if that device is steady or flashing "DON'T WALK" a pedestrian also has to yeild before stepping from the curb. If a pedestrian steps from the curb and fails to yeild and is struck, the driver will not be charged if said driver did not have enough time to yeild to the pedestrian.

And, back to the story, WTH does a 10 year old need a cell phone?

I know a lady who got her foot run over in a crosswalk but she was crossing against the light. She made such a stink about how the driver was at fault that the responding officer actually came to the hospital to give her a ticket!

Teach your kids some sense and personal responsibility.

Just what makes you think they are actually using the cross walks? To do that they would have to go to the corner, way too much effort for the typical kid these days.

mom2two is correct. The pedestrian can be at fault too. A good friend of mine's brother was hit by a car (prob talking on a cell phone... I don't know), but despite the fact that he had to go to the hospital and such, he was actually held responsible for the accident because he wasn't paying attention to traffic and had not appropriately yielded right of way. He had to pay for the damages to the car.

I walk to work a lot so I lean towards the side of pedestrians and have had a lot of jerk drivers not try to give me the right of way when it is mine (aka when the walk sign is lit). However, I have no respect for pedestrians who just walk out w/o looking or when it is not their turn. On the same streets I walk, I've been in a car when a pedestrian stepped out while we had a green light. The speed limit on the road is 45mph so that is pretty stupid.

As for DSV, I don't know where you live but I can't imagine traffic in my city if people stopped at every intersection that was green just to make sure no moron was trying to cross at the wrong time.

I have to agree with you. I see more adults walking out into traffic and into each other wihout missing a beat! Everyone with a cell phone needs to be responsible when they use it.

It's a little off subject, But I actually was driving next to a young lady the other day that was talking on a cell phone with one hand and eating an ice cream cone with the other and driving with her knees. Parents need to start parenting! And as far as the comments made about pay phones. Why do you think there are no more pay phones? DUH! Because everybody and their brother has a cell phone. It made pay phones obsolete. Maybe people should use their heads for something other than to put a hat on. That might help.

Living in Key West, FL, which is a tourist town, I can tell you that there are enough people who don't need help from a cell phone to step into traffic without looking. Our main drag is "Duval Street", with lots of short blocks and traffic lights. I've lost track of how many tourists on foot and in cars just plow through red lights without another thought. Parents push strollers with their precious children right into traffic.

On that same note, I ask those same idiot parents to not only stop and look before you cross, but also please put a hat and sunscreen on your little babies. At least pull the stroller canopy over your child, while you walk 14 blocks, both ways, under the blazing sun. This is Florida, people.

I also work in DC and have looked up the law. I've delt with people who keep crossing after the "DONT WALK" is steady and had to get a police officer involved once when an individual placed his hands on the hood of my car when he failed to yeild at a cross walk.

DC law pretty much says that a vehicle has to yeild to a pedestrian in a cross walk, but a pedestrian also has to yeild to vehicles before stepping into that cross walk unless there is a lighted "WALK" sign. If there is no electronic device or if that device is steady or flashing "DON'T WALK" a pedestrian also has to yeild before stepping from the curb. If a pedestrian steps from the curb and fails to yeild and is struck, the driver will not be charged if said driver did not have enough time to yeild to the pedestrian.

WraithGT, The only problem I see with that law is if you do hit someone crossing against the light or sign, How do you prove it unless there were witnesses? Sounds kind of like a no win for the driver to me.

There are. I've been mowed down by brats on bikes texting and riding. I doubt they're using the GPS function on that iPhone...

lrn 2 speak in #s

I r 2 smrt 4 u

That's the new english although these days I near more spanish than english when in public.

I "near " you Cap - I see you are already a victim of texting.

R A S: That looked more like a typo. N is under H, so it is possible, depending on typing speed, time spent awake, skill level, and many other factors, that Capn-1 made a typo. I doubt it was intentional.

Agreed.

Great, another chicken little the sky is falling kinda person. Next I guess you will want some government rule or legislation to prevent this so called risk of yours, after of course we spend millions of tax payer dollars on studies, with the results being slanted to favor the opinions of those doing the study....you know like global warming.

Ah, the old standby argument that cell phones give you cancer.

Did you know that dihydrogren monoxide kills thousands of people every year? It's a proven fact and I think we need to work on getting it outlawed first. It can be found everywhere, even your own house. The government knows about it, but they refuse to take action. People need to rise up and let their voice be heard!

BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! This "argument" is nothing short of ridiculous. Also for someone who claims to be "ashamed of people's stupidity," you seem to be buying right into the "argument" with your "logic" or lack thereof. Those of us who use cellphones are NOT braindead. We are just in touch with the world around and realize that life in the 21st century is not life in the 1950's.

Capn-1: Ah, good old H2O. Yep, everywhere it is, and many people it does kill.

Another one is skin cancer caused by all that bright light in the sky. We must banish it!

The government can control my right to use MY phone, that I pay for, when they pry it from my cold dead hand!!! I use hands free in the car, but if the phone rings, I'm gonna answer it. If the overbearing government doesn't like it, TOO BAD. Give the government an inch, they take 10 miles.

Me too. And who are the worst offenders? Upper management. They're worse than teenagers. GROW UP. Really. I had one corporate vice president (of HR no less) tear me a new orifice in the middle of my forehead because I told him he had to leave his cell phone in his car. And then he broke my chops "Who are you?! Do you know who I am?!" Really, I don't give a flying fig who you are, no cell phone in the building. Rules are for everyone, not just peons. And then he lied to me, telling me he had special permission. No, no one gets special permission because my company doesn't make that rule, our customer makes that rule, it's in our contract.

a and c

Sadly these days kids run the household, parents are afraid to tell their kids no. I think too many parents are trying desperatly to be their kids best friend, when they should really be their parent.

Try none of the above. My cell phone has proven to be invaluable in several situations where there are no pay phones nearby. Try finding a pay phone in today's world. Not even in NYC or Washington DC can you find one, ANYWHERE. Unfortunately there are too many people in the world who refuse to evolve and realize that this world is no longer the "leave it to beaver" kind of society of the old days.

Oh evolve already!!! FYI, 10 year olds are a lot smarter than you give them credit for being. And in today's society, where kids can be kidnapped just getting off the school bus (and don't say it hasn't happened) its no wonder parents are worried about their child's safety. This is not the "leave it to beaver" world that it once was.