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Texting while crossing a road - should you be fined?

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Comments

  • #62
    Bad Panda
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,205 ✭✭✭Bad Panda


    No.

    This is bloody ridiculous. Surely we can make people aware of the dangers without having to fine people.

    Sure let's fine people for not looking left, right and left again!

    The people who said yes are a bunch of fcukin' idiots imo.


  • #63
    drumlover22
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 372 ✭✭drumlover22


    languagenerd wrote: »
    I don't think we should start with texting, tbh, there are a lot of people who cross road very dangerously without a mobile phone and I think these cause more accidents!

    I'd rather some sort of more general legislation along the lines of "dangerously crossing a road" and/or "causing an accident". Texting while crossing could be included in this definition (if it was indeed dangerous, because some people can text without looking at the phone) without being a separate thing, because as others have pointed out, there are lots of other distractions and we could never prohibit all of them.

    There's a particular corner on the quays coming onto O'Connell Bridge in Dublin that I hate crossing, and I have no idea how more accidents don't happen there. The lights for the cars going straight ahead go red for a few seconds, then the cars coming around the corner (going left) start moving. But, without fail, people always start crossing between the two sets of cars (a space of about 5 seconds) and then there's a bus trying to pass through a crowd of pedestrians who keep crossing. All the while the pedestrian lights are counting down from 40sec and everyone ignores them. I mightn't be explaining it very well, but if anyone else knows the corner, I'm sure they'll have seen this too. I've seen several near-misses there every day!

    So I think the above people ^, as well as people who dash across several lanes of moving traffic or people who just strut out and expect cars to stop should be fined, whether they have a phone or not! It's ok for everyone to say that it's their own fault if they get hit, but they could cause someone else serious injury by doing it (if the driver swerved, etc.)

    Are you on about the junction between Westmoreland St. and Aston Quay? It's amazing how more people haven't been hit there! How they think getting somewhere 30 seconds quicker is worth possibly getting hit by a bus is mindblowing!


  • #64
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Leave the pedestrians alone! We need to revert back to the days when a man with a flag walked in front of vehicles to warn the pedestrians the vehicle was coming.


  • #65
    Dravokivich
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Music Moderators, Politics Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 22,360 CMod ✭✭✭✭Dravokivich


    The main thing to take into account with that article, is that Jaywalking is an offence actively persued by the Police in the USA. It is not an offence actively pursued by the Gardaí here.

    Personally I think anyone who acts with a lack of awaerness to other road users resulting in a risk to themselves or others should have some sort of book thrown at them. But that'll never happen here.


  • #66
    TwoShedsJackson
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,438 ✭✭✭TwoShedsJackson


    drumlover22 wrote: »
    Are you on about the junction between Westmoreland St. and Aston Quay? It's amazing how more people haven't been hit there! How they think getting somewhere 30 seconds quicker is worth possibly getting hit by a bus is mindblowing!

    I see people flinging themselves across the quays on both sides of the Millenium Bridge every day. I'm stood there thinking 'I'm on my way in to work, do I feel the need to risk death/serious injury to get to work 15 seconds sooner?'

    Somehow the answer is always no.


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  • #67
    aaronjumper
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,128 ✭✭✭✭aaronjumper


    Bad Panda wrote: »
    No.

    This is bloody ridiculous. Surely we can make people aware of the dangers without having to fine people.

    Sure let's fine people for not looking left, right and left again!

    The people who said yes are a bunch of fcukin' idiots imo.

    I'd rather a fine than get a slap of a car. If emptying peoples pockets makes them pay attention, then how bad.

    Fines, penalty points etc. seem to be the only reason people obey the speed limit nowadays (generally, I know plenty of people still put the foot down) not because of danger to themselves or others but because they could lose their license or have to shell out much needed cash.


  • #68
    languagenerd
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,201 ✭✭✭languagenerd


    drumlover22 wrote: »
    Are you on about the junction between Westmoreland St. and Aston Quay? It's amazing how more people haven't been hit there! How they think getting somewhere 30 seconds quicker is worth possibly getting hit by a bus is mindblowing!

    Yeah, that's the one! It's ridiculous how many people just cross when they feel like it, it seems to happen every single time the lights change! There was a counter added to the lights (a red light that counts down from 40) so that people could see that they needed to wait another 40 seconds - but at least half the people there at any given time ignore it. I think bus drivers have just accepted it at this stage and go slower there... but you'd want to have your wits about you driving around that corner.

    I think those people are far more likely to cause an accident than texters, tbh.


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