I.O.W.A.

I had a friend back in college that was from the state of Iowa and we always used to tease her that her state was an acronym that meant "I Owe the World an Apology" or "Idiots Out Walking Around." Now according to one New York story, the idiots are migrating to a crosswalk near you. I heard a report the other day regarding the number of deaths per year due to people on cell phones crossing the street and being struck by an oncoming car, and the numbers were shocking. Here is an excerpt from WNBC in New York:

NEW YORK -- A state senator from Brooklyn said on Tuesday he plans to introduce legislation that would ban people from using an MP3 player, cell phone, Blackberry or any other electronic device while crossing the street in New York City and Buffalo.

NewsChannel 4 reported that Sen. Carl Kruger is proposing the ban in response to two recent pedestrian deaths in his district, including a 23-year-old man who was struck and killed last month while listening to his iPod on Avenue T and East 71st Street In Bergen Beach.

"While people are tuning into their iPods and cell phones, they're tuning out the world around them," Kruger said. The proposed law would make talking on cell phones while crossing the street a comparable offense to jaywalking.

Luckily, Phoenix's summers prevent many people from walking the streets. This should mean our casualty rate should diminish between May and September. so next time you think to complain how hot it is in Phoenix, just remember that heat and a poor public transit system could be keeping you in a car, and out of the dangerous crosswalk.