Will Politicians Now Ban Walking While Talking On A Mobile Phone?

from the but-are-they-reasonable-risks? dept

In the past we've seen stories about hikers not doing a very good job preparing for a hike, figuring that as long as they have a mobile phone with them, they can always call for help should things go wrong. Some recent studies are also now suggesting that students tend to take more risks when they have a mobile phone. Of course, by "risks" the studies uncover two things: the first is that students are more likely to walk through certain areas late at night if they have a mobile phone than without. Whether or not that's a reasonable risk is unclear. If someone were attacked, then they likely wouldn't be able to call for help, though if they're already on the phone it could be useful. Of course, the report also suggests that if they're chatting on the phone in such an area, they may not be paying careful attention to their surroundings, making them more vulnerable. The second finding (of a different study by the same researchers) found that people talking on mobile phones are much more likely to cross a busy road in front of traffic than those not on mobile phones.

If this sounds familiar, it might be because we've all seen plenty of studies that point out if you're driving while on a mobile phone, you're also more likely to be distracted and drive poorly. Yet, while there are all these new laws to ban driving while yakking on your mobile phone, will we now see legislation proposed to ban walking while yakking on your mobile phone as well? At some point, people need to learn to take responsibilities for their own actions -- and if they're making riskier decisions while talking on a phone, it's fine to educate them, but that doesn't mean we need to create a law to ban each and every activity.

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