‘스마트폰 좀비’ 때문에 신호등, 표시판 설치
THEY are known as smartphone zombies or “smombies” – pedestrians so fixated on their mobile phones that they risk injury as they saunter along oblivious to the world around them. THEY, I say, but it could be you, it could be me – I cannot say I come clean here.
All around the world, we’re seeing a growing number of road accidents caused by -we’ve coined a term – “text walking.”
Smartphone zombies or Smombies roaming the streets – our News Feature tonight with Oh Sooyoung.
More often than not,… you can spot pedestrians stumbling aimlessly along the road, their eyes transfixed by their smartphone screens.
A survey shows that most Koreans use their smartphones at least once a day as they walk down the street, listening to music, watching videos or sending text messages.
Oblivious to their surroundings, these so-called smartphone zombies, or “smombies,” disturb the flow of traffic and even put their lives at risk.
“I listen to music or play games while I’m walking so that I don’t get bored. I often get surprised by cars going by and have to step aside.”
“It throws us off completely. They just walk across the street ignoring the lights. If we don’t spot them in time, we would end up in an accident.”
Data shows the number of pedestrian accidents caused by smartphone usage has more than doubled in the last five years.
Medical experts say staring down at a screen narrows a person’s field of vision from roughly 120 degrees horizontally to just 20 degrees.
It’s the same for one’s vertical span of vision.
“We can normally see 60 to 70 degrees vertically, but when we look at our smartphones, we tilt our heads 40 to 50 degrees down, so that only leaves us with just about ten degrees in terms of what we take in.”
It’s not just vision that’s affected when it comes to perceiving one’s surroundings. Hearing is also affected, heightening levels of danger at complicated crossings even more.
“For those listening to music, their ability to hear the horn drops by more than 80 percent, which heightens the risk of an accident. In roads without sidewalks and at crossings where cars make a right turn, if pedestrians appear out of nowhere or cross too slowly, there’s a high chance of a collision.”
It’s not just Korea that’s seeing distracted smartphone users bringing danger to the streets — It’s a global phenomeon.
To curb the number of “smombies” walking into accidents, the state of New Jersey in the U.S. fines pedestrians 85 dollars for texting while walking.
In the city of Chongqing in China, there are separate lanes for smartphone users,… and in Augsburg, Germany, there are flashing traffic lights on the ground.
Korea is also making efforts to curb the number of “smombies” walking into accidents.
The city of Seoul is carrying out a pilot project in five busy districts, including City Hall, Gangnam Station and the Hongdae area.
Signposts are being installed to urge pedestrians to be cautious while using their phones.
There are also warning signs dotted on the ground.
“Here, the sign is on the edge of the sidewalk, so that it catches the attention of pedestrians before they cross the street.”
Experts say Korea is still in the early stages of tackling the issue.
There’s a need to expand safety campaigns and infrastructure to help prevent smartphone-related accidents, but what’s fundamental is raising public awareness, especially among children and adolescents.
“There haven’t been any regulations, nor has there been any form of educational outreach so far on the dangers of pedestrians using smartphones. I believe education is needed, especially for students in middle and high school as well as university who commonly use their phones on the streets.”
As they work on practical solutions, public authorities are, in the meantime, advising drivers to be extra cautious and urging pedestrians to keep their heads up and their eyes firmly ahead.
Oh Soo-young, Arirang News.
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Post time: Jun-14-2017