Avid texters beware: Fort Lee, N.J. police said they will begin issuing $85 jaywalking tickets to pedestrians who are caught texting while walking.

“It’s a big distraction. Pedestrians aren’t watching where they are going and they are not aware,” said Thomas Ripoli, chief of the Fort Lee Police Department.

Ripoli said the borough, which is home to approximately 35,000 residents, has suffered three fatal pedestrian-involved accidents this year. He hopes his crackdown on people who display dangerous behavior while walking will make his town safer, but not everyone is on board with the idea of issuing $85 tickets.

“When I walk I still look around. I’m not like constantly looking down the whole time,” said resident Sue Choe.Another woman complained about the tickets were “a lot of money.”

Officers handed out pamphlets during a short grace period in March before they began aggressively going after “dangerous walkers.”

More than 117 tickets have been issued, according to the New Jersey Record.

Two professors at Stony Brook University in New York conducted a study on walking and texting. They found texters are 60 percent more likely to veer off line than non-texters.

“We want to raise awareness that a real disruption occurs because of texting,” Eric Lamberg, co-author of the study, told Long Island Business News. “Texting disrupts your ability much more than does talking.”

【新聞快訊】那些喜歡走路發(fā)短信的人要注意了：美國新澤西的小鎮(zhèn)Fort Lee出臺了一項法規(guī)，禁止行人走路發(fā)短信，一經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)罰款85美元。Fort Lee鎮(zhèn)的警察局長Thomas Ripoli說：“走路發(fā)短信讓行人分心，使他們沒法注意他們正往哪走?！?/p>

Ripoli表示這個不到35000人的小鎮(zhèn)，今年至今已經(jīng)發(fā)生了三起行人喪生的事故。他希望這項法規(guī)可以讓小鎮(zhèn)更安全，但不是所有居民都同意這項法規(guī)。有人表示低頭發(fā)短信并不是事故頻發(fā)的主因，也有人抱怨罰款金額太高了。當?shù)鼐街耙舶l(fā)放過安全宣傳的小冊子，但收效甚微。目前已經(jīng)有超過117人因為走路發(fā)短信被罰款。

兩位來自紐約Stony Brook大學的教授進行了一項研究，稱走路發(fā)短信的人比不發(fā)短信的行人，卷入事故的幾率要高60%。研究者之一的Eric Lamberg教授表示：“我們想要讓大眾意識到走路發(fā)短信的危害，它比走路聊天更能分散你的注意力?！?/p>

【滬江小編】走路發(fā)短信也要罰款，汗，小編一周得被罰多少錢啊。但交通安全意識真的很重要，小心謹慎才能避免事故發(fā)生哦！