citizens do not read, writers have become virtually nonexistent. The fact that the police car does not consider being an author as a profession gives insight into the nature of the futuristic society. Apparently, books, novels, articles, and magazines are not valued or read. Leonard Mead is then arrested for not conforming to the superficial, ignorant society and taken to the Psychiatric Center for Research on Regressive Tendencies.

The voice from the police car says this because Leonard Mead has said that he is a writer.  The car says this as if it is talking to itself.

In my opinion, this is a commentary by Bradbury on what this society is like.  The society is totally rigid and structured.  People are not allowed to do anything that is not like what everyone else does.  That is why Leonard Mead has been stopped by the police -- he is out walking when no one else would be.

In such a society, a writer would not do well -- no one has any imagination.  So the police car does not even recognize the idea that someone might write as a profession.

In this dystopian society, writers are considered useless, surplus to requirements. People don't read books anymore in this goggle-eyed, TV-obsessed culture, so writing is, at best, an irrelevance, at worst, a dangerous eccentricity not to be tolerated. But what it isn't, and what it can never be in this society, is a profession. A profession implies something you can make a living out of, like a doctor, lawyer, or nurse. But Leonard Mead doesn't have that luxury. As no one buys books or magazines in this society, the profession of writer simply doesn't exist; it does not compute.

The response from the robotic police car to Leonard's profession tells us a lot about this society. For one thing, the car is the only available police unit in the city as everyone is at home watching TV, and so no crimes are being committed. Also, the robotic voice appears to have been pre-programmed not to recognize being a writer as a profession, which indicates that this society has been in this nightmarish state for quite some time.

Because the society in “The Pedestrian” is so obsessed and enthralled with television and the 100’s of channels that are beamed to them each day, there is no need for things like books and magazines for enjoyment.  Everything is given to the society’s citizens through television, and they sit around in their “tomb-like” dark houses just mere shadows of themselves.   Therefore, Mr. Mead is out of a job and doesn’t have a viable profession in this technologically advanced culture.  This is probably why Mr. Mead takes his nightly walks—he needs something to do.  Leonard Mead is a symbol of the past when people enjoyed reading and getting out in nature.  Bradbury has effectively shown how technology has taken over our lives and has caused the decline in learning and knowledge through Meade’s outdated profession of writing for a living.