KEY TAKEAWAYS: A Louisiana bill to fine pedestrians $25 for using phones in crosswalks was deferred in committee. The proposal by Rep. Mike Bayham faced bipartisan opposition in the House Transportation Committee. Lawmakers criticized the measure as government overreach targeting pedestrians. Louisiana already has a hand-held cellphone ban for drivers, aimed at reducing distracted driving.   A bill that would make it a crime for pedestrians to look at their cell phones while navigating crosswalks in Louisiana was punted after bipartisan opposition in the House Transportation Committee on March 16. Republican Chalmette Rep. Mike Bayham’s House Bill 309 could be returned after it was voluntarily deferred, but it’s unlikely after clear pushback from the committee. Bayham’s bill to fine pedestrians $25 who are looking at their phones while crossing the street would have largely impacted walkers in Baton Rouge, Shreveport and New Orleans, the state’s largest cities where there are an abundance of crosswalks, he said. “My goal is to promote public safety,” Bayham said. “The science and statistics are there supporting this position. I’m trying to encourage people to have situational awareness.” But Democrats and Republicans on the panel criticized the bill as government overreach. “We’re not placing blame where it actually belongs — who’s behind the vehicle,” Democratic Shreveport Rep. Joy Walters said. “So to criminalize pedestrians — at what point is that government overreach?” “It’s an individual right to look at your phone,” Republican Hornbeck Rep. Rodney Schamerhorn said. Louisiana does have a hand-held cell phone ban while driving a vehicle. This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Should Louisiana fine pedestrians using cell phones on crosswalks? Reporting by Greg Hilburn, Shreveport Times / Shreveport Times USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect ...read more read less