Open Discussion: Hey, I’m Texting Here!

"Sammy, stop!" I shout as my son pedals down the sidewalk. It wasn't an intersection that he was looking to race through, but one of the many curb-cut driveways that dot the last block between our residence and the market.

This morning, while Sahra and I were having our somewhat regular Google Hangout, we were talking about the recent spate of coverage of distracted driving and walking news pieces. Most of the time, the stories focus around texting, but now a days texting is just short hand for "doing anything on the phone that isn't talking or taking a picture."

As usual, Sahra made the best point of the conversation. She noted that these articles all miss the major point, where are people choosing to use their phone rather than pay attention to their surroundings. She used the example of parents and kids darting across Vermont in an unmarked crosswalk but since the crossing was unmarked, they were completely aware of their surroundings. I used the example of Sammy and and me on the wide sidealks in West L.A, where he was completely unaware there could be danger as long as he was off the street.

I walk that block regularly without a toddler on a bicycle, and am often on the phone. I don't text when I'm walking, but I have a tendency to take work calls whole also pushing a stroller.

Here's our question for today's discussion: Where do you you see drivers, pedestrians, or cyclists distracted by their phones, and what's the best thing we can do to get people to pay attention to the road?

LADOT wants to remove some crosswalks, because they "give pedestrians a false sense of security," and perhaps encourage people to step off the sidewalk without looking both ways.

The Los Angeles Times ran both an article and a commentary by Pat Morrison on the first world scourge of texting while walking. The articles are both wonders of L.A. based media thinking, and Morrison's piece almost reads like parody.

Except she's serious.

And she wants to see more ticketing of pedestrians who are using their phones. She doesn't seem concerned about ticketing drivers in increased numbers because L.A.'s drivers are so awesome about sharing the road. Again, she's serious.

Meanwhile, Slate released a new Werner Herzog video this weekend showing how texting-while-driving crashes destroy the families of victims, but rarely result in jail time for those who choose watching their phone over watching the street and crash their car.

While it's always incumbent on drivers to pay attention while behind the wheel, the reality is that its the people walking or on their bicycle that bear the brunt of a crash, and will for years. Both drivers and other road users need to pay attention as they move about the city. Drivers so that they don't hurt someone. Everyone else so that they don't get hurt by the drivers that fail to pay attention.