Texting while driving is illegal for everyone, but texting while walking is not. At least, not yet.

Jesse White, Illinois Secretary of State, wants the state to pass the anti- texting while walking bill. While there are plenty of people who make bad choices, the state should not pass this law because people need to take responsibility for themselves and not rely on the government to tell them texting and walking is stupid.

People should already know that texting while crossing the street or walking in crowded areas is a bad idea and should not allow themselves to get distracted by texting if they do not want to get hurt. About 1000 people injured themselves texting while walking in 2008, according to Business Insider, but there are many other distractions that can get them injured or killed the same way.

Texting is a distraction, but so is talking on the phone, listening to music, reading a book, and the thousands of activities people do in their everyday life. The government cannot ban every little distraction or activity that can result in someone getting hurt.

The bill requires anyone who is caught texting while walking to pay a $25 fine for the crime, according to National Public Radio. Making texting while walking illegal could help lower the amount of visible texters on the streets, but if the government passes the bill, then lawmakers will be encouraged to pass additional, less necessary, laws. If texting while walking is made illegal, then using any electronic device or distraction, like listening to music or reading the newspaper, while walking could be made illegal, too.

In Philadelphia, a woman was texting while walking in a mall fell into a fountain, according to the IT Newsletter, Network World, and now wants to sue because there are videos of the incident everywhere exploiting her mishap. No one knew who the woman was until she told the public and then decided to sue for public humility, when it was all her fault anyways.

“I text while walking, definitely. I’ve probably hurt myself before, too, but never badly; I know how to pay attention when I have to. [The woman who fell into the fountain] should not sue for her own stupidity. [The government] should not make [texting while walking] illegal. That’s just ridiculous,” Will Rychlik, senior, said

Thanks to this woman’s mistake of not paying attention to where she was going, the State of Illinois, and other states as well, want to pass the law prohibiting people from texting while walking. People should not need to have the government tell them when they are doing something stupid, but should learn for themselves the consequences and dangers of texting while walking. People should make the right decisions on their own, without needing the government’s help.

Padded light posts for distracted texters are being tested in London. Illinois should accommodate people’s stupidity and not try to cure it. Stupidity is not a disease, it cannot be cured. So instead, the government should try to do more to protect the people, like padding light posts.

If people are unable to text and walk at the same time, then they should not do it in the first place. Instead of asking for a law to fine people who text while walking, people should take responsibility into their own hands, instead of giving the leash to the government.

Trying to text while walking could be dangerous and distracting, but there should not be a law prohibiting it. People need to learn for themselves the danger of their own stupidity, not be fined for it.