When Walkmen became popular in the ‘80s, there were NYC news reports showing people wearing headphones and obliviously walking in front of moving vehicles. But you didn’t hear about too many Walkmen-related deaths. Nowadays with smartphones, however, there are entire supercuts on YouTube—far too graphic for us to embed here—showing people walking straight into traffic while texting, then BAM, a car slams into and kills them.
Some cite Darwinism, and one could argue that the folks getting killed had it coming—but what of the faultless driver who has now had their life altered forever? What’s to be done? Most municipalities don’t go further than PSAs, but the German city of Augsburg is attempting to prevent “distracted walker” deaths through technology. After a 15-year-old girl lost her life for paying more attention to her phone than an oncoming tram, the city installed LED traffic lights in the ground at a highly-trafficked tram crossing. The idea is that by placing the lights down below, smartphone users wouldn’t need to lift their heads.
Hell in a handbasket, folks.
If you were the omnipotent ruler of a metropolis, what would you do to solve the problem?
http://www.core77.com/posts/52404/Hell-in-a-Handbasket-German-City-Creates-Street-Level-Traffic-Lights-for-Distracted-Smartphone-Users