Fine pedestrians for texting while crossing the street, Montreal asks province

The City of Montreal is asking the province to make it illegal for pedestrians to text while crossing intersections.

At a public consultation on road safety hosted Mondayby the provincial auto insurance board,a representative of Montreal Mayor Denis Coderreproposed giving police the power to fine pedestrians for the transgression.

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"We're asking for the government to take the necessary measures to save lives," said Aref Salem, the executive committee member responsible for transport.

Toronto made a similar request of its provincial government last year, but was turned down. Councillorsin Vancouver have also proposed banningcellphone-use while walking in crosswalks and on roadways.

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Montreal's proposal found some support from a lobby group for the province's trucking industry.

"If pedestrians aretextingwhile they're crossing streets, they could certainly be involved in a car or truck accident," said MarcCadieux, president of the Quebec Trucking Association.

"This is where we have to find a bit of dissuasiontowards pedestrians."

Beware of the 'zombies'

Last year, a study conducted byHEC Montreal's Pierre-Majorique Lgerfound that 30 per cent of people who text while walking make bad decisions because they're not concentrating.

"They're in a zombie-like state,"Lger said at the time. "They're so concentrated on their phones, but blind to their external environment. They're like zombies."

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The consultations on road safety are being held around the province. Lobby groups, businesses, politicians and the public are able to make recommendations on the issue.

Among the other ideas floated on Monday was a renewed appeal by some Montreal-islandmayors to allow motorists to turn right on red lights.

Montreal is the only jurisdiction in the province where the manoeuvre is illegal, but in his presentation Salem reiterated the city's opposition to revising the rule.

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