Seriously, Just Look Where You’re Going

Here’s a reminder: life on your screen will only continue if life outside of your screen does so as well.

I’m not going to lecture. I don’t think it works or else no one would drive drunk anymore. People aren’t moved by the statistics of fatalities caused both by drivers’ and pedestrians’ inattentiveness. It seems obvious that texting while driving is dangerous for both drivers and pedestrians. What is not as immediately obvious is that walking while texting can be a danger as well. Distracted pedestrians are not just a danger to other pedestrians, but to themselves and drivers. Looking at a screen while listening to headphones doesn’t give someone much opportunity to notice that they’ve wandered into the street against the light. But people still text everywhere, and I mean everywhere.

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AT&T tried to tackle this with the “It Can Wait” campaign in 2010.

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This video of a woman texting and walking into a fountain at a mall in Pennsylvania went viral. Shortly thereafter, she got a lawyer and was interviewed on ABC, concluding with a plea for young people to be more careful (the lawsuit seems to have stalled after it was revealed that she had just finished probation and was headed to court for five felony charges).

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Then there’s the Text Neck Institute in Florida, which encourages patients – post chiropractic treatment, physical therapy, and more – to use their phones at eye level. I can’t picture that happening, although these glasses could help.

This month, Philadelphia got in on the conversation. A texting lane for pedestrians, thought up by Rina Cutler, deputy mayor for transportation and utilities, has been painted on sidewalks in the city. The lanes were put up for the first week in April to coincide with April Fools’ Day. Mayor Michael Nutter appeared in a video they made to promote the idea that pedestrians need to be aware of their surroundings:

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Of course, with Google’s new glasses, texting while walking may suddenly become a lot safer. And now you know what the world would look like if Charlie Todd were in government.