A new law in Hawaii makes texting while walking illegal, with offenders liable to pay a fine of up to $35, The New York Times reported.
The bill, which was passed in Honolulu, takes effect Wednesday and forbids pedestrians from viewing their mobile electronic devices while crossing streets in the county.
This applies to cell phones, pagers, laptops, video games and even digital photographic devices.
Brandon Elefante, the City Council member who proposed the bill, said per The New York Times, that the legislation was a milestone that set the bar high for safety.
Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell added that the legislation was needed because it was increasingly common for pedestrians to be hit by vehicles at crosswalks.
"Sometimes I wish there were laws we did not have to pass, that perhaps common sense would prevail," the mayor said, according to CNN. "But sometimes we lack common sense."
First-time offenders will have to fork out between $15 and $35, while second- and third-time offenders could pay between $35 and $99 in fines.
The legislation is an attempt to reduce the number of pedestrian fatalities, which have escalated over the years.
A report by the Governors Highway Safety Association found that about 5,997 pedestrians were killed in 2016, compared with 5,376 fatalities occurring in 2015 and 4,910 in 2014.
The report attributed this to an increase in walking as well as "distraction due to growing use of smartphone technology."
Dr. Etienne Krug, director of the Department for Management of Noncommunicable Diseases, Disability, Violence and Injury Prevention at the World Health Organization, has linked these pedestrian fatalities to distracted walking.
According to The New York Times, people who text and walk are more likely to act carelessly by jaywalking or not looking both ways before crossing.
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