Distracted Driving Bylaw is coming. How about a Distracted Exercising bylaw??

Edmonton is looking to enact a new Distracted Driving bylaw that would give police the ability to ticket drivers for talking on their cell phone, texting, reading, etc while operating a motor vehicle. I am all for this, as it has been proven to increase the rate of accidents and injuries if the person is talking on a cell phone, and it’s just plain stupid to try to text or read while driving. What I would also like to see is some way of dealing with those who talk or text excessively on their phones or other devices while working out.

Now I understand that there are those times you are looking to answer an important phone call, and in that case, answer it and maybe leave the workout floor for a few minutes. I am sure the person on the other end of the line doesn’t really want to hear you grunting and swearing your way through a set of bicep curls (maybe they do, but that is something you have to work out with them privatey).

Also, I am sure you aren’t really working all that hard while talking about what happened on Gossip Girl this past week, or discussing the inner workings of getting your hair spiked just right to pick up chicks at da club tonight. Voice mail was invented so that if someone calls you and you are busy, they have the ability to say something along the lines of “give me a call when you are free,” such as after the workout.

The all time funniest thing I have seen with regards to people talking or texting and working out was a girl a few years a go who tried to answer her cell phone and fell off the elliptical trying to flip it open and hit the answer button. She got up looking embarrased, and then just kept on elliptical-ing. A few days later she was back in the gym talking on her phone with a Blue Tooth attachment, way too loud.