On the 2nd of September, the news about the 13-year-old hit by a train in Libiąż (Małopolskie Voivodeship) hit the news. Not only did the girl cross the tracks in a forbidden place, but she was also deeply engaged on her smartphone.
Accidents will happen…
According to Sebastian Gleń, spokesman of the Małopolska police force, the accident took place on Monday. According to the findings of the police, the 13-year-old was walking along the path leading to the railroad tracks, and then – staring at her mobile phone – she wanted to cross the track in the forbidden place.
At that time, the train came. The engine driver – seeing the dangerous situation – tried to warn the girl with sound signals. The girl was hit by the side of the locomotive and then fell onto the railway embankment.
She was taken by the ambulance crew to the hospital. Fortunately, she was not seriously injured. The driver was sober, of course, and in my opinion he should not have any of the blame!
Worlds first mobile phone walking lane!
The unreasonable usage of smartphones leads to more tragedies. Not only in the Małopolska region, but rather in the whole world. Cities all over the globe are trying to fight the phenomenon of “Smartphone Zombies“ in diverse ways.
#DidYouKnow that in Chongqing, China, the government constructed a dedicated smartphone-sidewalk, separating the phone users and the non-phone users. In Hong Kong, they are called dai tau juk (the head-down tribe). The lane built in Chongqing was the world’s first mobile phone walking lane.
Also, Antwerp introduced (even in as early as Summer of 2015) “text walking lanes” for the pedestrians that use their mobile phones – texting while walking!
Smartphones – a growing threat!
The “Smartphone Zombies” pay attention first of all to what they see in front of them on the phone and it often happens that they go out into the street without being sure if they can do it. The drivers in such a situation, apart from trying to brake, can do little more… The young lady (13-year-old) states that the engine driver from the locomotive shouted her and used sound signals. However, the collision was not avoided.
“Put away your smartphone and live” – such an inscription appeared in front of the pedestrian crossing in Mińsk Mazowiecki. The same appeal has been written on many Warsaw streets for several years now.
For Bartosz Grzegolec, a tram driver from Szczecin and the author of the blog “Be careful tram” (PL: “Uwaga tramwaj”), the sight of pedestrians staring at the telephone is an everyday reality. The “zombie smartphone” is an intergenerational and international threat. “Every 3rd teenager often uses the phone on the way to school, and every 4th driver in Poland uses a mobile phone while driving to write SMS or check e-mail” – points out Maciej Dębski, president of the foundation “Dbam o Mój Z@asięg”.
Cities all over the world are fighting the Zombies!
“This plague is not only in Szczecin, but in other cities” – emphasizes Hanna Pieczyńska from the Szczecin Road and Public Transport Authority. And more and more cities around the world are trying to fight this phenomenon in various ways.
In Honolulu, for example, texting at a pedestrian crossing can be fined – up to $ 35. Japanese Yamato completely prohibits the use of smartphones during walks – not only on the road but also on the sidewalk. In South Korea, the traffic lights are placed there not on poles, but on the road.
Szczecin used a similar idea. The LED strip turns from green to red before the passage. “We already know that it works. The strips have saved someone’s life more than once”, convinces Pieczyńska. But as practice says, these are only ad hoc measures. They won’t help everyone.
“We adults very often forget that our children learn from us by imitation. It would be a pity for us to wake up only when we get a call from the hospital, that our child had an accident because he used a mobile phone” – points out Maciej Dębski.
How about you? Are you a “Smartphone Zombie”? Do you know one? Is the city you live in adapted to the walking corpses deeply into their social media items on their phones? Would love to hear your take on this topic!
Yours truly,
The Twisted Red LadyBug
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