The province won’t force you to put down your phone when crossing the street.
But that doesn’t mean you should frolic into an intersection as part of your next Pokémon Go chase.
Victoria police spokesman Const. Matt Rutherford said he sees pedestrians walking in front of his cruiser without looking up on a regular basis.
“People are so enthralled in their cellphones and various devices, especially with this Pokémon Go craze. So I encourage people to get their heads up,” Rutherford said.
“It’s so important for people, when they’re crossing the street, to make eye contact with drivers, cyclists and motorcyclists, so that both driver and pedestrians are on the same page.”
While education is key for Rutherford, others are pushing for legislation similar to distracted-driving laws. Toronto council voted last Thursday to ask the province to amend the Highway Traffic Act to ban “actively using a hand-held wireless communication device or hand-held electronic entertainment device while on any travelled portion of a roadway.” Ontario declined to intervene, recommending a bylaw change instead.
In B.C., the Transportation Ministry is echoing that sentiment.
“The province is not considering putting in place a law to ticket pedestrians who text and walk,” the ministry said. “Local governments have the authority under the Motor Vehicle Act to regulate pedestrian traffic, if they wish to do so.”
An Ohio State University study found that between 2004 and 2010, the number of pedestrians killed while using a cellphone increased to 3.6 per cent from fewer than one per cent.
A 2012 University of Washington study of 1,100 pedestrians at 20 Seattle intersections found that one-third were engaged in a distracting activity such as texting, talking to another person or listening to music.
ICBC doesn’t track whether a pedestrian involved in a crash was using a device at the time.
The number of crashes involving at least one pedestrian has been relatively steady in British Columbia in recent years.
Incidents averaged about 2,300 a year between 2009 and 2013, according to ICBC. The number declined slightly on Vancouver Island, to 300 in 2013 from 340 in 2009.
While Vancouver Coun. Geoff Meggs has publicly supported a ban for pedestrians similar to the one on distracted driving, Greater Victoria authorities seem to favour education over legislation.
“I think if anything, an education campaign rather than legislation is the answer,” Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps said. “Schools could be a key part of this as children learn habits and then carry them into adulthood.”
Saanich Coun. Colin Plant of the Capital Regional District’s Traffic Safety Commission also backed education over regulation.
Walking and texting hasn’t come up at the commission, he said, but discussion did arise Thursday around Pokémon Go.
“We talked about how we would probably need to turn our minds to thinking: ‘Is there a need for us to make any recommendations on how to play the game and be safe?’ ” Plant said.
While some laud Pokémon Go — a video game in which cartoon Pokémon characters pop up onscreen as players move around — for getting people out of the house, others see it as a nuisance, even off the road.
Former Victoria resident James Roy posted a rant on his Vancouver gate that went viral, after several young men asked to enter his yard to catch Pokémon.
“Get a life and stay out of my yard,” the sign says.
“This whole Pokeman [sic] hunt is by far the stupidest thing I have ever seen,” Roy wrote, adding he’s already lived through “hammer pants,” “Crystal Pepsi” and “the Macarena,” among other trends.
Roy said he was sick of people trespassing in his garden, which includes kale for the building’s residents.
“A man’s kale is his castle. Please don’t trespass on people’s private property,” he told the Times Colonist.
