Utah Transportation Authority Bans ‘Distracted Walking’
- Posted on March 30, 2012 at 2:23pm by
Liz Klimas
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Transportation authority bans "distracted walking." (Photo: Salt Lake Tribune/Al Hartmann)
In a nearly unanimous vote, the Utah Transit Authority board members have decided that “distracted walking” — at least near its public transit train tracks –is a punishable offense.
(Related: Philadelphia to fine pedestrian for texting: government overreach or common sense?)
The Salt Lake Tribute reports that the 11-3 vote means crossing UTA train tracks while “talking on cellphones, listening to music with headphones, texting, ‘attending to personal hygiene’ or reading newspapers or magazines” could land you with a $50 fine — $100 if you’re a repeat offender. The logic of the majority of the board is that it’s better than getting hit by a train.
Board member Robert Hunter said that two recent accidents were people who walked into UTA vehicles themselves — they weren’t actually hit. “They actually walked into them,” he said. “That shows you how much attention has been paid.” Still,the Tribune reports there was some opposition:
[Board] member Troy Walker, a defense attorney, questioned the wisdom of it. “I struggle with criminalizing everyday conduct,” he said. “We’re going to make it a crime to have your headphones in walking along crossing the tracks. Does it really make us safer?”
The Tribune reports other board members stating it is not only protecting walkers but those operating vehicles who could suffer psychological effects from hitting someone.
The fines imposed for these infractions are civil, not criminal.
[H/T Gizmodo]
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Comments (76)
patriot72590
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 4:47pmi hate living in utah. im a morman and i even think they take things to far, the politicians here must be progressives or something, idk
Report Post »Iamamom
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 5:20pmIf your are a Mormon you should learn to spell it.
Report Post »Iamamom
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 5:21pmIf you are a Mormon you should learn to spell it. And what does being a Mormon have to do with this law?
Report Post »symphonic
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 5:33pmFAIL (mormAn)
Report Post »db321
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 5:43pmVideo Please!
Especially showing someone performing personal Hygiene while they are walking – I have a picture in my mind of someone scratching his but while walking.
Report Post »Uranium Wedge
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 6:03pm“Morman”?
Report Post »More like Moron.
Uranium Wedge
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 6:11pmSaying that your offended by comments is like saying “I can’t control my emotions, so you should”.
Report Post »rgillespie1
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 6:38pmI’m a Mormin too.
Report Post »Uranium Wedge
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 9:12pmUTA?
Report Post »More like UTGAY
mlebates
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 12:48amI lived in SLC for 4 years, and I for one am GLAD they are putting this law (stupid as it may be) into place. The people who live in Utah (not just SLC) don‘t look both ways to cross the freakin’ road let alone train tracks! I nearly witnessed a man in a wheel chair get killed by a train while the arms were down, lights were flashing, and bells were going off to warn people of an on coming train. He was rolling across the tracks, luckily the train operator saw him, and was able to stop in time, but he honked to let him know what a moron he was. Dude in the wheel chair flipped off the conductor…
So yes. I for one am GLAD this is being put in place. Maybe now people in utah will realize that trains are metal, heavy, and when going 60mph CAN KILL YOU!!!!
idiots… all of them.
Oh and I’m morMON too, but the religion has nothing to do w/ this story. OP – I‘m glad we’re not in the same ward.
Report Post »SekndAmendment
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 1:34amThen leave. Nobody is making you stay here. In the three hours since I read this article and your idiotic comment, someone got hit by a Trax train in Salt Lake.
Report Post »EvanBerrett
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 4:42pmActually, this law is kind of needed. Okay okay, hold on, don’t get upset just yet. I am living in Utah right now. The Utah Transit Authority this year has had DOZENS of accidents, many of which resulting in deaths. The primary cause was someone not paying attention to where they were. Many people have been walking into crosswalks while texting, pulling out on the tracks without hesitation, and often spending too much time texting while driving to realize that they are going over tracks. Trains have hit tons of cars, buses have hit pedestrians. It’s a real problem. This really should not be that crazy.
Report Post »@leftfighter
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 5:07pmWho the hell are you to tell me what I can do while I’m minding my own business and hurting nobody?
Do you really need this law? Really?!
So what do you regulate? Texting and walking? Talking and walking? Looking in store windows? Chewing gum? Simply, thinking?
There’s a reason why Dug from the movie “UP!” is so funny- because we’ve all known dogs (and people) who can be distracted literally by a leaf blowing across the ground. Anything at any time can be a distraction, so anyone can get ticketed at any time. So is this law “protecting people” (an Orwellian argument) enforcing regulation of their behavior (also Orwellian), or criminalize the inner workings of their minds (Thought Police, hello?!)?
This is literal 1984-type stuff, folks. Wake up!
Think I’m exhaggerating? Try living with my AADD for 10 minutes- you‘ll understand where I’m coming from.
Report Post »symphonic
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 5:34pmOf course the trains are not at fault. They are SUPPOSED to run people over when people get in the way. Heaven forbid a train should have a BRAKE.
Report Post »jcldwl
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 8:07pmSo, because some people are just naturally stupid and lack common sense let’s just pass a law to prevent it. Progressivism at it’s best. And I thought Utah was the most conservative state.
Report Post »Gumbercules
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 3:12pm@ @leftfighter
you are a dimwit, aren’t you now. If you read the article carefully you will see that the law only pertains to “when crossing UTA tracks”. It isn’t for the entire city.
You think you aren‘t hurting anybody by ’minding you‘re own business’? Pretty naive . . . idiot.
Report Post »phillipwgirard
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 4:17pmSO! Now It’s going to be against the law to be STUPID?
Report Post »@leftfighter
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 5:13pmIt’s not just stupid people, bro. Try living with ADD. Anything can be a distraction at any time.
This is criminalizing thought processes.
Report Post »Uranium Wedge
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 9:16pm“Freemasons run the country”.
Report Post »debkk9
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 1:47amif it’s against the law to be stupid…boy are the jails gonna be FULL…especially here in Illinois….
Report Post »GOINGDOWNAHILL
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 4:16pmUTA– you’ve done some stupid stuff but this one takes the cake
The truly sad part is that there were enough people out there ignoring the flashing lights, the bells, the crossing arms and all the 129 other safety precautions that they had to even consider this move–
A tour guide once was asked about how many people had jumped from the edge of the Hoover Dam and why the fence was not bigger preventing people from jumping, he said what UTA should have said “We are not in the business of protecting the stupid from themselves”
Reasonable safety measures have been in place– the ones who get hurt are those who choose to ignore them.
Report Post »TedsOfBeverlyHills
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 6:10pm@GOINGDOWNAHILL
Excellent observation from the Hoover Dam tour guide. However you are missing the bigger picture here. When you jump from a dam you aren’t really hurting anyone but yourself. If you are that depressed (or stupid), be my guest.
But when you run a red light, try to beat a train at a crossing, or walk distracted in front of a moving train you are hurting far more people than yourself, and you are causing financial harm to all of us who pay taxes to support Utah’s public transportation.
1 – UTA puts drivers on paid leave when they are in an incident. (These are incidents, not accidents)
2 – Damage is caused to trains and equipment that must be repaired at a cost.
3 – Thousands of commuters are delayed, causing most to be late to their jobs, potentially causing them a loss in pay if they are paid hourly, and also potentially causing a loss of revenue for their company (the company who pays their wage/salary).
I’ve lost patience and sympathy for those who continue to break existing laws and cause so many problems for the rest of us. I hate laws like this, just wish people would stop thinking they are the center of the universe.
Report Post »ColoradoMaverick
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 3:51pmSince when does walking constitute “transportation”? I don’t text or talk on my cell phone when I walk, but if a pretty woman walks by, I might just walk in front of a bus. I guess that will be against the law there now??
Report Post »iblvingd
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 3:37pmThis still isn’t going to fix “stupid”. It won’t fix the people who decide to climb the stupid tree to the top and fall off, hitting every branch on the way down. There are way too many people out there that will still find a way to walk or drive into an oncoming train without any distractions!
Then they will need to have a fine for stupidity!
Report Post »mikee99
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 3:36pmSo I live in this area and use the UTA train and buses all the time. What happened is several people have died over the past several years from the trax trains. A couple have committed suicide and the others have literally just walked right in front of the train and been killed. A tragedy yes, but to do this law is insane!
The unions run these guys. They have all kinds of crazy rules. They recently got rid of a student yearly transit pass. This allows tens of thousands of students to pay a yearly fee of $120 bucks to use the buses. SInce UTA already has to run these routes it was a win for everyone because it is good for the students and it is just extra money for UTA because they do those routes regardless. The unions decided it was bad for some reason and canceled it. Now the monthly rates are almost $80. Now that may be cheaper than other areas, but it is crazy because they decided to turn down millions of dollars per year due to the unions. Now the local taxpayers have to make up the difference and pay for all the buses now anyway. Some parts of UTA actually made a profit some years, but now they are losing lots of money overall.
These unions can make bad business decisions, but they don’t care because the taxpayers have to make up for any losses they may and do incur.
Report Post »thegodfather
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 3:21pmMay I suggest a “walking license”. Pedestrians would have to apply for one (for a small fee of course), and then get it renewed each year, following a test of some sort, whereby, you would then be legally allowed to “walk”.
Report Post »vavaeon
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 3:28pmExcellent idea, we should also require ourselves to walk around with helmets and pads in case we fall… you know because we’re all so rapidly approaching the rubicon of mental retardation.
Report Post »symphonic
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 5:40pmMake sure we equip them with helmuts that have CO2 recovery systems so that we can save the planet as well.
Report Post »AmazingGrace8
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 7:08pmA “micro-chip” implanted under the skin of all walkers (not to be confused with the birth-control implant covered under Obama HlthCare–didn’t know that was there–Nancy P & The Bees know) & “wire-less connect” to the required helmet worn by all walkers and required listening of vocal reminders (narrated by Keith Olberman) “Rules For Walking Dummies.” The micro-chip will pick up all “look-out-dummy-you-are-going-to-get-run-over“ and other ”could be a law-suit in the wings” conversation by said walker.
Report Post »It seems the government always needs to issue a law so as to cover their own skin. It looks like people that are not paying attention and get hurt or killed are not suing (of course the dead person can’t sue but the family can)…I read that some place in a best selling book “Bad things can happen when you are not paying attention”.
fabjr71
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 3:17pmOk – the next time you are walking and see a beautiful woman flaunting her looks or her body and you hurt yourself, men have a right to suit them for liable and reckless endangerment! Really!?
Report Post »youdidthis
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 3:11pmSumerian clues to 2012 dna change.
Report Post »http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9KVBBwAp5g&context=C43dbcd3ADvjVQa1PpcFNMRzNgHU7ndcAJAXovWn1IGE8HQmjcy7k=
cessna152
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 3:10pm…”for your safety…of course” Should always scare the cr@p out of every citizen!
Report Post »walkintruth
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 3:10pmHow are they going to enforce this law. You can’t make stupid people pay attention. What if some of them have ADD or some focusing problem?
It is only common sense to watch when you cross, but to make it a law is scary. What will be next? They are going to have hand book to keep yourself safe and if you don’t follow it, they will arrest you?
Report Post »fabjr71
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 3:21pmI have ADHD, so I think I’m going to have to file for permanent disability and have my own personal aide to help me with walking.
Report Post »youdidthis
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 3:07pmgestapo ring a bell…
Report Post »dlivelli
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 3:01pmWe will soon all be Comrades……..these progressives will stop at nothing to get control. We will have to stand up and not bend to all this kind of crap…who the hell do they think they are. EVERYBODY but them is an idiot…it is amazing this country got by with all of us idiots running businesses and working and innovating things…where would we be without the enlightened people……FREE!
Report Post »Gourdy
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 3:12pmI’d guess Conservatives, not progressives considering this is Utah.
Report Post »DAVIDE1333
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 5:58pmGourdy-
Report Post »Progressivism is not reserved for liberals. Conservatives have been known to promote progressive ideas. Progressivism needs to be defeated no matter from where it comes.
Gourdy
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 2:59pmI like this law! If you’ve ever been nearly run over on a sidewalk by some clueless person texting on a smart phone, you’ll see the point of it. Just like with laws against cell phone usage in cars, it’ll be universally ignored.
Report Post »Baddoggy
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 2:54pmI am sorry…This is the thinning of the herd. Let the stupid people die off….
Report Post »scuba13
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 4:05pmIf Encinom dies who am I going to call an idiot?
Report Post »Sirfoldallot
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 4:19pm@ scuba, jajajajaja,,,so true
Report Post »Silversmith
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 2:44pmRidiculous and completely abusable statute.
YOU CAN’T FIX STUPID
But you sure can annoy the rest of us while you try.
Silversmith
Report Post »OhioRifleman
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 3:08pmYou are correct, Silversmith, we cannot fix stupid. It simply exists, neither living nor dead, but a status of being from which relief is impossible. It cannot be destroyed, for when it disappears in one place, it reappears in a different manifestation in another location.
On the other hand, while we cannot fix stupid, stupid can and will eventually fix itself, being called the Darwinian process of Natural Selection. We should all cheer on this process, and revel in its application as it clears out the deadwood in society. Best of all, those of us higher on the chain of intelligence need do nothing more than stand back and take notes, it requires no active participation on our part.
The EPA and Sierra Club need to take a stand against this law. It obviously interferes with the natural process in place on this planet.
ABO-OMG 2012!
Report Post »madderg
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 2:43pm… it all started with the “backing up” alarm for the stupid people…beep-beep-beep.! and now they are in office around the nation. We should never mess with natural selection…
Report Post »walkintruth
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 3:14pmI love it. Maybe they need an alarm they yells at them instead of the beep? “Get your stupid a** out of the road!” On Star probably has something like that I’m sure.
Report Post »Hawaii_Conservative
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 2:41pmA law is only as good as enforcement. There is bigger fish to fry, at least outside of Utah there is. Having lived in Utah, I can say this….. “get a life”
Report Post »DisgustedinCT
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 2:39pmJust two words Utah: Natural Selection.
Let it be, just post signs warning people not to be distracted around the trains and your covered against lawsuits. Better yet put a yellow line at least 5 feet from the train tracks on the landings and tell people not to cross the line until the trains have stopped.
Report Post »mongastanman
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 6:32pmI ride Trax 5 days a week. There‘s a new mall downtown that’s on both sides of that station. “MORONS” are constantly walking right past the signs telling them to use the crosswalk, 30 feet away!!!
Report Post »mongastanman
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 6:38pmI am against it, by the way. I will be a very good witness to the “natural selection.”
Report Post »Hawaii_Conservative
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 2:37pmA law is only as good as its enforcement … so yeah for a while, people will be ticketed but it will become a forgotten law because the law has bigger fish to fry.
Report Post »Abraham Young
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 2:36pmWho the HELL do they think they are? Anyway?
Report Post »Abraham Young
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 2:36pmI protest this VIGOROUSLY and will make it known to the board.
Report Post »TXPilot
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 2:29pmHmm…I don’t know whether to be upset at another blow to freedom by the nanny state, or feel that a law like this is inevitable, because I too, see lots of idiots stumbling around in a haze, while texting or otherwise electronically occupied.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 2:38pmLOL .. agree .. but I think that this is just another way of “thinning the herd” .. a few walk onto train tracks might not be such a bad thing .. as for me the next idiot I see coming at me texting and not looking I am NOT stepping out of the way … I will stand still and brace myself … maybe some of these idiots will wake up!
Report Post »Exrepublisheep
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 2:40pmIndeed.
Report Post »MDDAWG
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 2:26pmCome on, Utah. You can’t legislate common sense.
Report Post »deeberj
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 2:39pmI think I agree with this. We can’t legislate stupid out of existence.
“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.” Thomas Jefferson
Report Post »MDDAWG
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 2:55pmExcellent quote, Deeb.
Report Post »marine249
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 3:09pmto many libs walking about ‘WITH HEAD UP BUTT”
Report Post »Sirfoldallot
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 3:18pmwe use 2 be free where if u want 2 be a jackass u could, oh wait a min. Do u want 2 regulate Jackass the movie too ?
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