April Fools—City's Sidewalk Texting Lane Makes Point
Mayor Nutter's faux law takes aim at absented-minded pedestrians.
Mayor Michael Nutter's designated texting lane for walkers on mobile devices may be fake, but the city's concern for neglectful pedestrians is real. In an April Fools' Day prank, city officials released a hoax YouTube video, which depicted a new sidewalk exclusively for those who need to text message and walk simultaneously. On Sunday, Nutter tweeted, "Philly pedestrians, please review our new sidewalk regulations effective today," with a link to the attached YouTube video. The city also created an #ELane hashtag to spread the message, before giving people a head's up to the joke. "We all know that many, many people are using the sidewalk and looking at their iPhones, BlackBerries and electronic devices, and they are quite distracted, …
