Distracted Walking, Cycling, and Driving

[danbrotherston]

....

Distracted pedestrians can be a nuisance, but are highly unlikely to kill/seriously injure someone (other than themselves).  Same goes for cyclists.  So even if it was an offence to text while biking, I highly doubt any officer would do enforcement (Unless there was a need for an adjustment of attitude, and the ticket was to make a point)

Coke

This is true today, and in Kitchener, but that's not to say that this is true everywhere and always.

There are many cities, including iconic places like NYC, SF, or Austin, where police have strong crackdowns on cyclists or pedestrians for minor offenses (like not putting your foot down at a stop sign or starting to walk during the countdown but completing your crossing before the yellow), while ignoring serious and harmful offenses by motor vehicle drivers.  These are real examples happening today.  Worse, it can be used as an excuse to police minorities, i.e., I won't get ticketed for walking and texting because I'm a white male, someone who's wearing a hoodie and of the wrong complexion might not be so lucky.  We've seen this more broadly in "broken window policing" in NYC, and less seriously, carding, in places as close as Toronto.

This is why this type of thing does concern me, when we talk about making things illegal like riding without a helmet or texting and walking, I'm sure some people have good intentions, but the result is often extremely harmful--even if we make it unofficially legal.