If some New Jersey lawmakers get their way, it could soon be illegal to text and walk in the state.
The New Jersey Legislature will consider a bill proposed last week that would fine pedestrians who have their eyes glued to their smartphones instead of the sidewalk, according to NJ.com.
Democratic Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt, who proposed the bill, said that she is concerned by the rising number of collisions between pedestrians and cars across the country. Injuries involving walking and using a cellphone have more than doubled between 2005 and 2010.
“If a person on the road — whether walking or driving — presents a risk to others on the road, there should be a law in place to dissuade and penalize risky behavior,” Lampitt told CBS New York.
32 pedestrians in New Jersey have been killed so far in 2016, according to NJ.com. Around 10% of pedestrian injuries are due to distracted walking, a recent study found.
New Jersey already has a ban on distracted driving, but passage of the distracted walking bill would take its pedestrian safety laws even further.
Similar bans have failed to pass in New York, Nevada, and Arkansas, among other states.
