Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Hawaii

Honolulu’s Pedestrian-Blaming Law Sets Off a Round of Copycats

After a Cleveland council member proposed a law against “distracted walking,” a local news station jumped at the chance to produce anecdotal evidence. Photo: WKYC.com

There's a huge but under-appreciated public health crisis unfolding on America's streets: It's becoming more dangerous to walk. Last year, nearly 6,000 people were struck and killed while walking, a 25 percent increase since 2010.

Walking is so deadly in America because that's how we've arranged our cities and towns. Streets are designed to move motor vehicles at lethal speeds without consideration for pedestrian safety, and our scattered development patterns increase driving and car traffic, exposing people on foot to greater risk.

Instead of reforming our transportation and land use policies to make walking safer, however, American cities are doubling down on a dysfunctional system by blaming pedestrians for their own deaths.

Honolulu set the precedent earlier this summer by passing a law that forbids looking at an electronic device while walking across an intersection, even though motorists are still permitted to look at dash-mounted devices while driving through intersections. The law won't make people safer (data doesn't support the idea that "distracted walking" is a significant factor in rising pedestrian fatalities), but will lend itself to selective enforcement and racial profiling.

Nevertheless, other cities seem intent on following Honolulu's example.

In Stamford, Connecticut, City Representative John Zelinsky proposed an ordinance modeled after Honolulu's. Cleveland City Council Member Zach Reed proposed a similar law as well.

Those two bills have set off a deluge of victim-blaming in the local press. One Cleveland television station, for example, took the opportunity to point a camera at pedestrians using phones, as if that alone justified such a law.

In fact the Honolulu law has set off a round of pedestrian-hating takes across the land. Chicago-area columnist Paul Sassone, for example, told his readers, "There is too much suffering of innocent people in the world for me to feel for the terminally stupid."

If you want to know why walking is so dangerous in the U.S., this attitude explains a lot. The developing conventional wisdom pins responsibility on behavior that doesn't actually explain the public safety risk. Dangerous driving and poor street design get a pass while the victims of vehicular violence are mocked as "terminally stupid."

Look at the cities that are making progress on pedestrian safety, and you'll see policies very different than the one Honolulu has adopted. The DC region is bucking the national trend and reducing pedestrian deaths, thanks to interventions like corner sidewalk extensions and road diets that calm traffic and narrow crossing distances.

You can't solve a problem if you don't acknowledge what's causing it. That's the danger for residents of Honolulu and these copycat cities. Walking won't be any safer because of these laws, but policy makers will feel like they've addressed the issue.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Five of the Ugliest Transportation Policies In the ‘Big, Beautiful’ Bill

Here's a rundown of some of the transportation provisions in the Republicans' reconciliation package, and what they might mean for your community.

July 10, 2025

Viva La Thursday’s Headlines

Why is French transit ridership up 10 percent since before the pandemic, while American transit ridership is down 23 percent?

July 10, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines Are Bigger and Beautiful-er

There's a lot of bad news in the Big Beautiful Bill — but it also may have helped kill a major highway expansion in Oregon.

July 9, 2025

Removing ‘Rainbow Crosswalks’ Won’t Make America’s Arterials Safer

Secretary Duffy wants to tackle dangerous arterials. So why is he coming after rainbow crosswalks most often seen on narrow city roads?

July 9, 2025

The ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Is About Our Transportation Future, Too

Transportation didn't get a lot of mention in the public discussion of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. But it's everywhere.

July 8, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines of Many Colors

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called rainbow crosswalks "a distraction" and called on cities to eliminate them.

July 8, 2025
See all posts