‘Zombie walkers’ bill wanders off reality

There’s a stubborn belief on the part of the liberal-left that you can fix every problem by passing a law against it. Which bring us to Liberal MPP Yvan Baker’s private member’s bill to ban “zombie walkers” — distracted pedestrians who cross the street with their faces buried in their cellphones.

We agree it’s a problem. Reminding people of that through public awareness campaigns is valid.

But since the potential result is serious injury or death, and people do it anyway, they’re not going to be deterred by a $50 fine for a first offence proposed in Baker’s “Phones Down, Heads Up Act.”

While we’re at it, can all politicians please abandon this idiotic practice of giving cutesy names to proposed legislation?

But even with a serious name, Baker’s bill is not to be taken seriously — beyond the fact private member’s bills rarely become law.

If Baker wants to pass laws to prevent people from doing stupid, dangerous things, he should check out the Darwin Awards.

Based on that, we could have laws against skateboarding off a roof, balancing a ladder on a bucket to make it higher and standing on a book shelf attached to the wall to hang a picture.

In the real world, you can’t fix stupid and fixing stupid isn’t the job of the police.

Almost as if to ensure his law would be unenforceable, Baker’s bill provides an exception, that it’s OK to cross the street with your face buried in your cellphone if you started the conversation on the sidewalk.

Baker’s bill also provides an exception if a person uses his phone to call emergency services. Seriously? That has to be in a law now?

Do we really want police having to deal with this nonsense?

We’re not comforted by Baker’s provision that municipalities could opt out of the law.

We agree with laws against distracted driving because in the hands of a distracted driver, a car becomes a weapon.

But the cure for distracted walking is the children’s rhyme: “Look both ways before you cross the street, use your eyes and use your ears before you use your feet.

No legislation is necessary.

But since the potential result is serious injury or death, and people do it anyway, they’re not going to be deterred by a $50 fine . . .”