Hundreds of pedestrians in Tianjin have been punished so far this year for looking at their phones or other devices while crossing the road.
Since Jan 1, the municipality-one of the first in the country to enact such regulation-has been regulating such behavior and has punished at least 345 pedestrians.
The regulation stipulates that distracted pedestrians first receive a warning or possibly a fine of 50 yuan ($7.70) if they refuse to correct their behavior, said Xing Yi, deputy director of the order management department under the Tianjin Traffic Police Headquarters.
"The warning is not a simple reminder, like just verbal persuasion, but it is a legal process with a legal punishment notice issued to the pedestrians," Xing said.
Those who refuse to cooperate with the traffic police or whose deeds have harmed other people's traffic security will be fined 50 yuan, he said.
Zhou Xin, deputy division head of the Nanjing Road Police Area, a busy traffic area in Tianjin, said that he has issued such punishment four to five times each day, and the legal warning has been effective in the majority of cases.
The new regulation is aimed at raising people's awareness in risk prevention when they read mobile devices while walking, said Yang Yingjun, deputy director of the accident prevention and management detachment.
There is a rising trend of people reading mobile devices while crossing roads, which raises the risk of traffic accidents, he said.