Official Position on Texting While Walking Coming up with editorial positions for The New York Times is serious and arduous work. Board members agonize over the big issues and consult precedents that, unlike Chief Justice John Roberts, we cannot simply ignore. As the editorial board editor, I might also consult the publisher, or the god of my fathers, or, of course, the Barbra Streisand compound. But after watching a new op-doc on texting while walking, (part of a feature started this year by our new video editor, Jason Spingarn-Koff) and reading many impassioned comments, I've decided to circumvent the process and issue an immediate verdict on text-walking. Before I let you know what I've decided, a little background: As the op-documentarian, Casey Neistat, points out, "more than 1,000 pedestrians visited emergency rooms in 2008 after they were injured while using a cellphone to talk or text." Should we save these people from themselves? One argument, naturally, is that such people are idiots, and that it's not worth it. But out-of-it texters on busy city streets are also a nuisance for the rest of us. Mr. Neistat recommends that compulsive texters adopt "proper technique," which involves putting your back against a wall and standing in one place while you text, allowing foot traffic to flow by safely. Some commenters suggested more extreme measures, like handing out tickets for distracted walking (comparable to tickets for jaywalking), or creating "texting lanes" on the sidewalks, possibly combined with bike lanes, one reader suggested, so that bikers and texters "knock each other off." On due consideration, here's my official position: Banning texting while walking would be absurd, in part because some people are capable of performing both tasks simultaneously. Personally, I'd rather have New York City's Finest chasing murderers and rapists and other serious criminals, like people who order bagels with fruit baked into them. Our official editorial position: If you can text and walk alertly, we have no problem with you. If you can't, stay home. Use a landline.