Majority Agree With
“No Texting While Walking” Rule
Most popular with oldest, but not with cyclists
In a random sampling
of public opinion taken by the Forum Poll™ among 868 Toronto voters, the
majority agreed with city council’s desire to make texting illegal while
crossing the street (56%), whereas just one third disagree (35%) and one tenth
don’t have an opinion (8%). Agreement with council’s plan is common to the
oldest (73%), those with medium incomes ($60K to $80K - 62%), in North York
(63%), among mothers (61%), among those who commute by private vehicle (61%)
but not so much amongst cyclists (48%), among those with some college or
university (64%) and among those who voted for the mayor in the last municipal
election (62%).
“It’s predictable,
of course, that older voters, who are less exposed to texting, and are
frequently pedestrians, are in favour of this idea, but it is interesting to
note that it is car drivers who are more likely to support it than cyclists,
who frequently see themselves as victims of automobiles" said Forum Research President, Dr. Lorne Bozinoff.
Lorne Bozinoff,
Ph.D. is the president and founder of Forum Research. He can be reached at
lbozinoff@forumresearch.com or at (416) 960-9603.
