As the smartphone industry is growing, many people can’t resist looking at their phone when it buzzes. Because of this, more and more people will look at their phone and blindly walk into danger like a busy crosswalk. A 15 year old in 2012 was walking on her phone and got hit by a car. Two years later in 2014, a 14 year old got seriously hurt after walking off a bridge after being on his phone. Some people want to pass a law to prevent this, as they did in Honolulu last October when a couple students got their city to pass a law against this, but we shouldn’t have to pass a law to stop people from crossing the street on their phones because there are many other solutions out there,

First, One alternative to passing a law is to install warning systems easy for people to see such as lights .

According to the article “The clever thing one Dutch town is doing to protect ‘smartphone zombies’” it turns out that a Dutch city has already developed these lines of LED lights called “light lines” made to be synchronized to the lights above. What they’re thinking is that people on their phones are looking to their feet, so when the lights change, they will notice in their peripheral vision.

A second solution to passing a law is to do little changes like what they did in London, England. Some of the lapposts there have padding so people not paying attention won’t get hurt. Another solution is to make people more aware. In the article, “Would you ban Texting and Walking?” it says that “Last year, the Los Angeles Police Department launched a public-awareness campaign about the hazards of distracted walking.” In other words, if people know about where to focus their attention. As reported by Kristin Lewis in the article, “Between 2000 and 2011, distracted walking led to more than 11,000 injuries in the U.S.” Sure, many of these option’s effectiveness are unclear, it is still better than passing a law.

In conclusion, We shouldn’t need to make a law for people to pay attention to where they are walking because of the many solutions there are. It’s just common sense. If a law is passed, you would most likely have to pay a fine. Nobody wants to have to pay hundreds of dollars just to tell your parents or grandparents you love them. If you don’t want to be a part of the many injuries caused by people perplexed by their phones, pay attention to where you’re walking.