People on their phones rarely get in my way. I live in a big city and walk everywhere and it really isn't a problem. I wonder if people in smaller cities/towns are less adept at walking and using their phone, because people seem to get very upset about it. I only get upset when people stop in the middle of the sidewalk, which sometimes involves a phone and sometimes not.

There's no particular reason not to do it, it's just that it's not in the power of a mayor, at least in France.

There is a law against smoking in certain places, a village can't put in place an equivalent law against this

There are countries this is banned.

When a pedestrian bumps into another, it isn't expensive property damage and potential death.

What's next? Can't walk while drunk? Someone has to carry you on their shoulders?

Banning thinking and daydreaming while walking?

License for walking, lanes for walking and turn signals on your shoulders?

For your safety.

i second the motion.

i'd now like to move to the next item on the agenda and propose banning of smart phones followed by all social media.

Lets ban the internet itself. And then ban reading/writing too.

Lets ban walking while talking too then, that is also distracted walking, and as any fast walker can attest to, people walking slowly while absorbed in conversation and hogging the entire width of the sidewalk are only second to people weaving through pedestrians on bicycles in causing trouble.

Amen. There's about a half dozen sidewalk activities I would want to stop before I got to looking at a phone. Talking loudly, walking multiple people abreast, stopping without "pulling over", using any kind of vehicle (unless required for mobility), walking out of a door into the sidewalk without paying attention.