County to introduce ordinance against distracted walking, biking

By Brandi Makuski

Residents in Portage Co. may soon risk a hefty fine if caught using their phones while walking or bicycling on public streets and sidewalks.

In an exclusive interview with the Metro Wire, Portage County Executive John Pavelski said he’s proposing a countywide ordinance against distracted walking/bicycling at April’s Public Safety/Emergency Management Committee meeting.

It’s already illegal in Wisconsin to use a cell phone while driving, except in an emergency. Pavelski said after learning about steep increases in driving-while-distracted collisions reported by the Department of Transportation, he felt it was time to get Portage Co. in a more proactive stance.

“We’ve got statistics coming in from Stevens Point and Plover police departments, and the Portage Co. Sheriff’s Office, on instances of driving while distracted, so we already know it’s a problem in vehicles,” Pavelski said. “And I think, even anecdotally, we can agree it’s more common while people are out walking.”

Pavelski said he’s heard from several patrol officers that it’s a particular problem around the UW-Stevens Point campus and area high schools, including several instances where “students just walk into traffic without looking up,” and to Pavelski, that’s an accident waiting to happen.

A distracted pedestrian or bicyclist could just as easily cause a traffic accident as a distracted motorist, he said.

“We’re being proactive. We’re not waiting for a pedestrian or a bicyclist to get killed because they were crossing a street without looking up from their phone,” he said.

More details about the proposed ordinance will become available later this month.