Wednesday 19 March 2014

Distracted walking

So there's a new law against texting and driving in Ontario! Higher fines, yay!

But we have way too many people who just don't get that this is not about you holding the bloody phone, but more about being distracted while driving. I head out yesterday thinking people will be mindful at least on day one only to be stuck behind a jeep where I could clearly see the passenger holding the phone up for the driver who was oblivious to the lights having changed and the cars ahead of her being long gone! She weaved between lanes making it incredibly hard for me to get to where I wanted to go. All the while I could see a hand holding up a phone for the driver. So I am not sure how this is going to turn out for us.

And for people like me who would rather walk than drive I am also annoyed with people that walk and text or do whatever they do with their phones. The most annoying thing they do while on the phone is stop dead on their tracks while walking. I was walking down the hall at work yesterday and walked right into two people, not one but two people who did just that.

With cars it is one thing, the person at least step on the brakes and the brake lights tell you that the driver ahead is just randomly stopping in the middle of the street, you curse and stop, what else can you do if you can't safely pass them! When people do that while walking, we just walk into them because our bums are not fitted with brake lights are they! I said just that to the first woman I walked into yesterday! In hindsight I doubt she registered anything I said, she was totally distracted by her phone. Sigh! I feel like this is a losing battle.