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he Hawaiian city of Honolulu has resorted to fining people up to $99 for staring at the devices, to try and force people to look up from their phones while crossing the road.
The new law gives police the power to fine people up to $35 (£26.41) for their first offence, $75 for their second and $99 thereafter, perhaps expecting it to take quite some effort to get people to take notice.
The bill, which comes into force today after being rubber stamped by the Hawaiian city’s mayor in July, states that “no pedestrian shall cross a street or highway while viewing a mobile electronic device”. Mobile phones are included as well as any “text messaging device, paging device, personal digital assistant, laptop computer, video game, or digital photographic device” but audio equipment is excluded.
The new law gives police the power to fine people up to $35 (£26.41) for their first offence, $75 for their second and $99 thereafter, perhaps expecting it to take quite some effort to get people to take notice.
The bill, which comes into force today after being rubber stamped by the Hawaiian city’s mayor in July, states that “no pedestrian shall cross a street or highway while viewing a mobile electronic device”. Mobile phones are included as well as any “text messaging device, paging device, personal digital assistant, laptop computer, video game, or digital photographic device” but audio equipment is excluded.
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