Is it Time for Idaho to Outlaw Distracted Walking? (POLL)

We all do it. At some point, you (and me) have walked while staring down at our phones. It's gone from being an annoyance to a much bigger problem. Now, there's a movement to actually make distracted walking illegal.

Normally, the last thing you would ever hear me recommend is for us to do something that's happening in New York. But, CBS/New York is reporting that there is legislation that is gaining traction to make it illegal for people to walk distracted.

They also quoted a study from Safe Kids Worldwide that cited new statistics of dangers in school zones specifically. According to Safe Kids Worldwide, there has been a 13% increase in deaths of kids between the age of 12 and 19 in the past 4 years alone. That is unacceptable.

It gets worse. There are now 5 teen pedestrian deaths every week in the United States, according to this study.

I think many would agree that distracted walking is a bad idea, but what to do about it? How can you possibly police this kind of activity? To clamp down on adults would be next to impossible. How often do you see someone get cited for jaywalking? Not many, right? But, what if schools had traffic monitors also look out for this type of activity? It's not like a lot of school administrations have extra resources to devote to this.

What do you think? Should distracted walking in Idaho be outlawed? If so, how do you enforce it? It's clear that something must be done.