在火奴魯魯，過馬路時看手機請交35美元

You see them everywhere: people walking with their eyes glued to their mobile phone screens on busy streets. But walking and texting can be dangerous — and cities in the United States and Europe have begun to do something about it.

他們行走在擁擠的街頭，眼睛卻絕不離開手機屏幕，這樣的人無處不在。但是邊走路邊發(fā)短信可能會非常危險——對此，美國和歐洲的城市已經開始采取行動了。

Honolulu has passed a law, which will take effect Wednesday, that allows the police to fine pedestrians up to $35 for viewing their electronic devices while crossing streets in the city and surrounding county. Honolulu is thought to be the first major city to enact such a ban.

火奴魯魯通過了一項將于周三生效的法案，它允許該市及周邊郡縣的警察對過馬路時查看電子設備的人處以35美元罰款。該市是第一個制定這種禁令的大城市。

“This is really milestone legislation that sets the bar high for safety,” said Brandon Elefante, the City Council member who proposed the bill. Pedestrians, he said, will share the responsibility for their safety with motorists.

“這是一個立法里程碑，為安全樹立了高標準，”提出該法案的市議員布蘭登·埃萊凡特(Brandon Elefante)說。他說，行人與機動車駕駛者應當共同為安全負起責任。

In the United States, pedestrian deaths in 2016 spiked 9 percent from the year before, rising to 5,987, the highest toll on American roads since 1990, according to federal data. One reason may be the sharp rise in smartphone use, “a frequent source of mental and visual distraction” for both drivers and walkers, a report by the Governors Highway Safety Association found.

根據(jù)聯(lián)邦數(shù)據(jù)，在美國，2016年行人在交通事故中的死亡人數(shù)比上年增長了9%，上升到5987人，死亡率為1990年以來最高。智能手機使用的急劇上升可能是原因之一，美國州際高速公路安全協(xié)會(Governors Highway Safety Association)的一份報告說，智能手機是“導致司機和行人精神和視覺分心的常見原因”。

“I’m guilty myself,” said Charles Chan Massey, chief executive of Synaxis Meetings & Events, a management firm, who uses the time walking to and from meetings and business lunches to catch up on calls, texts and emails.

“這種事我也會干，”從事企業(yè)管理的辛納克西斯會議與活動公司(Synaxis Meetings&Events)的首席執(zhí)行官查爾斯·錢·麥西(Charles Chan Massey)表示，他總是利用外出吃商務午餐來回步行的時間打電話、發(fā)短信和處理電子郵件。

“A lot of people do it; they know it’s risky and do it anyway. They convince themselves that ‘this text is important,'” he said. “It’s something we need to be aware of.”

“很多人都這么做。他們知道這是有風險的，可還是這么做了。他們說服自己，‘這個短信很重要’”，他說。“我們需要注意這件事。”

There is a dearth of data directly linking distracted walking to pedestrian injuries and deaths, but it seems to be a global problem, too. Preliminary studies “give a hint to unsafe behavior,” said Dr. Etienne Krug, director of the Department for Management of Noncommunicable Diseases, Disability, Violence and Injury Prevention at the World Health Organization.

關于行人注意力不集中同他們在交通事故中受傷或死亡的關聯(lián)，目前尚不存在直接證據(jù)，但這似乎是一個全球性的問題。世界衛(wèi)生組織非傳染性疾病、殘疾，暴力和傷害預防司(Department for Management of Noncommunicable Diseases, Disability, Violence and Injury Prevention at the World Health Organization)司長艾蒂安·克魯格(Etienne Krug)博士說，初步研究“表明這是一種不安全行為”。

People who text and walk, for example, are nearly four times as likely to engage in at least one dangerous action, like jaywalking or not looking both ways, and take 18 percent more time to cross a street than undistracted pedestrians. Solutions, Krug said, are “hard to legislate and even harder to enforce.”

例如，邊走路邊發(fā)短信的人做出至少一個危險行為的可能性要高出四倍，他們可能會亂穿馬路，或者過馬路時不左右看;而且他們過馬路的時間要比注意力集中的行人多18%。至于解決方案，克魯格說，“立法很難，執(zhí)法就更難了。”

A number of other cities have come up with creative ways to help protect cellphone zombies, who talk, text, listen to music, check their email and even snap selfies. Initiatives include low-tech efforts, like edgy signs in Hayward, California. (“Heads Up! Cross the Street. Then Update Facebook.”) and no-selfie zones in Mumbai, India, and specially designed traffic lights in Europe and several pieces of legislation in reaction to Honolulu’s new law.

其他城市已經提出種種創(chuàng)新方式來保護這些一邊走路一邊打電話、發(fā)短信、聽音樂、檢查電子郵件，甚至自拍的手機僵尸們。其中包括一些低科技舉措，比如加利福尼亞州海沃德市一則激動的標語。(“抬頭!過馬路。然后再刷Facebook”);印度孟買設立了禁自拍區(qū);歐洲有了特殊設計的紅綠燈，還有一些地方提出了與火奴魯魯新法規(guī)類似的立法。

Last month, the Board of Supervisors in San Mateo County, California, unanimously passed a resolution prohibiting pedestrians’ use of cellphones while crossing streets. It’s not enforceable, as state law governs such issues, but David Canepa, who introduced the measure, said it was an important springboard; the resolution is expected to go to the California Legislature for statewide consideration in January.

上個月，加州圣馬特奧縣督察委員會一致通過了一項決議，禁止行人過馬路時使用手機。這是無法執(zhí)行的，因為這些問題屬州法范疇，但是該措施的提出者戴維·卡內帕(David Canepa)說，這是一個重要的跳板;該決議預計將于明年1月提交加利福尼亞州議會，考慮在全州實施。

Critics are concerned about personal freedom and slow to adjust to new ideas, Canepa said. “But at the end of the day, people understand the value of public safety,” he added. “This legislation is practical and is common sense. It will save lives.”

卡內帕說，批評者們擔心人身自由方面的問題，他們對新想法的適應很慢。“但人們最終會了解它在公共安全方面的價值，”他補充說。“這個立法很實際，而且符合我們的日常認知。它是能救命的法。”

At least 10 states have debated similar legislation dealing with distracted pedestrians or bicyclists; none of it has passed, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Legislation is pending in two states, the group said, and in September, New York passed a law that directs New York City to study its efforts to educate the public on the dangers of distracted walking.

至少有10個州已就行人或騎行人注意力不集中進行了類似的立法辯論;然而根據(jù)全美州議會聯(lián)合會(National Conference of State Legislatures)統(tǒng)計，沒有一個州通過類似法案。該聯(lián)合會表示，相關立法在兩個州內尚待表決，9月份，紐約州通過一項法律，要求紐約市研究如何讓公眾明白，在行走時注意力不集中是有危險的。

Municipal laws are not tracked, but Rexburg, Idaho, may have been among the first to adopt a citywide ban, in 2011. The city recorded five pedestrian deaths in a short period in a concentrated area. It was a high toll, given the city’s size: about 35,000 residents.

市級法律是不受追蹤的，但是于2011年通過相關法律的艾奧瓦州雷克斯堡可能是最早在全市范圍實施禁令的城市。該市一個人口集中地區(qū)在很短時期內就有五名行人死亡。對于一個大約只有3.5萬名居民的城市來說，這個死亡率相當高 。

“It was a shock to our system,” said Stephen Zollinger, Rexburg’s city attorney.

雷克斯堡市檢察官史蒂芬·佐林格(Stephen Zollinger)說：“這對我們的系統(tǒng)來說是一種震撼。”

Distracted walking was suspected. Along with other safety measures, Rexburg barred pedestrians from using hand-held devices — except while talking — while crossing public streets, he said, and “we’ve not had a pedestrian fatality since.”

人們懷疑行走時注意力不集中是罪魁禍首。除了采取其他安全措施，雷克斯堡還禁止行人在過馬路時使用手持裝置——除非是正在打電話，佐林格說，“從那以后，我們這里就再也沒有行人在交通事故中死亡。”

Bodegraven, a small town near Amsterdam, tried a different approach. This year, it embedded LED-illuminated strips in the crosswalk at a busy intersection — right in the line of sight of people staring at their phones. When the traffic lights turn red or green, so do the lights at ground level, alerting pedestrians when it’s safe to cross.

博德赫拉芬是阿姆斯特丹附近的一個小鎮(zhèn)，它嘗試了另一種做法。今年，它在一條繁忙的十字路口的人行橫道上嵌入了條形LED燈，盯著手機的人過馬路時也能看見。當交通信號燈變成紅色或綠色時，地面上的燈也會隨之變色，還能在馬路可以安全通行時提醒行人。

The pilot program aims to anticipate trends, not reverse them, said Dolf Roodenburg, the project leader and a traffic engineer in the Netherlands. If it’s successful, the town hopes to install the lights at more intersections and on bike paths, and offer them to other cities.

該項目負責人、荷蘭交通工程師杜爾夫·盧登堡(Dolf Roodenburg)說，這個試點計劃旨在預測趨勢，而不是扭轉趨勢。如果取得成功，該市希望在更多十字路口和自行車道上安裝這種LED燈，并將它們提供給其他城市。

In Augsburg, Germany, similar lights were installed last year after a teenager using her smartphone was struck and seriously injured by a tram when she walked onto the tracks.

在德國的奧格斯堡，去年曾有一個年輕人在橫穿電車軌道時使用智能手機，結果被電車撞倒，受了重傷，之后該市也安裝了類似的LED燈。

There are, of course, contrary points of view on the effectiveness of legislating pedestrian behavior.

當然，也有人認為，對行人進行立法約束并不會產生成效。

Janette Sadik-Khan, a former commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation and now transportation principal at Bloomberg Associates, which advises mayors around the world, said laws against texting and walking were not the answer. They have no basis in any research, are poorly conceived and distract from the road design and driver behavior issues that are responsible for most crashes, she said.

前紐約市交通運輸部(New York City Department of Transportation)部長、現(xiàn)任彭博合伙人公司(Bloomberg Associates)運輸主管的珍尼特·薩迪克-汗(Janette Sadik-Khan)表示，立法禁止邊走路邊發(fā)短信不能解決問題，該公司專門向世界各地的市長提供咨詢。她說，這樣的立法沒有任何研究作為依據(jù)，設計欠佳，把人們的注意力從道路設計問題和司機行為問題上引開，而這兩點才是大多數(shù)交通事故的原因。

“It’s an easy way out. Engineering is a lot more difficult, but a lot more efficient,” Sadik-Khan said. “Traffic safety is very serious business in government, based in sound analysis.”

“這是一個偷懶的辦法。進行工程改造更為困難，但效率更高，”薩迪克-汗說。“對于政府來說，建立在可靠分析上的交通安全是一件非常嚴肅的事情。”