There is absolutely nothing more annoying or aggravating than walking behind someone who finds it appropriate to be glued to their cell phone, especially when you are in a rush to get somewhere. We all have experienced being stuck walking behind that person, and they just need to stop it already.
In Chongqing, a major city in China, the Chinese government has found a solution to the problem of congested sidewalks filled with texting pedestrians. This past week it was announced that the city of Chongqing introduced China’s first sidewalk with a special lane designed for cell phone users, according to The Guardian. The white lane dividing the sidewalk in two clearly states on one side, “NO cellphones” and the other addressed to cellphone users, “Walk in this lane at your own risk.” In all seriousness, this project was done with irony in mind and more on the side of a “tongue-in-cheek pedestrian PSA,” reported by The Washington Post. However, with this being the first of its kind in China, joking or not, it is easy to imagine how quickly this ridiculous concept could continue to grow and spread to other countries worldwide.
With technology being a very important part of our lives and the driving force of our daily activities, Chinese developers wanted to raise awareness of the matter at hand, according to The New York Times. As texting and driving is dangerous, so is texting and walking. The sidewalk in China was done to remind people of the severity of how hazardous it is to walk and simultaneously use your smartphone at the same time.
People worldwide are too immersed in their smartphones, and are often so mesmerized they don’t take the time to glance around at their surroundings. Nong Cheng of the Meixin Group, which manages the city’s property, stated that “There are lots of elderly people and children in our street and walking with your cellphone can cause unnecessary collisions here,” according to The New York Times.
In September 2013, My Fox Tampa Bay visited UT and videoed students walking across campus glued to their phones. In the video some students told reporter Stef Dipietrantonio that in the past they have tripped, fallen, or walked into things, and two students admitted to being on the social networking sites Instagram and Twitter.
The act checking social media or unread messages has become so natural to our generation that we have allowed ourselves to become oblivious to our surroundings. Katie Schleicher, a UT freshman and marketing major, admits that she hasn’t had any major injuries, other than a few near accidents but nothing more than bumping into people.
The sidewalk in China was originally inspired by a behavioral experiment by the National Geographic Television show, “Mind Over Masses,”on the streets of Washington D.C., according to The Associated Press. The experiment resulted in some pedestrians altering their course, others stopping to take a picture, and some cigarette smokers gravitating towards using the cellphone lane, reported in Yahoo Tech. Surprisingly, cellphone users wearing hands-free Bluetooth earpieces used the cellphone lane as well. However, ironically, the many people that were actually using their phones didn’t even notice the painted lanes.
Although the inspiration for the cell phone texting lanes originating in the U.S., there is still the looming anticipation that this concept can spread to other countries. With the constant increase in the obsession with technology, these sidewalks leave room for interpretation from pedestrians that it is acceptable to proceed with their unsafe and hazardous walking practices, not realizing these lanes were done as a joke to raise awareness on the issue. Furthermore, even though the sidewalk is in place to separate the cell phone users from the non-cellphone users, it may lead to the cell phone user’s annoying habits being tolerated by society and cause an even greater problem in the future.
Unfortunately, with the newly painted lanes for texters, pedestrians will either notice the signs illuminating the upcoming lane division and get the hint to get their noses out of their phones, or they’ll miss it completely. For the ones that do notice but the joke goes right over their head, of course probably just see it as an opportunity to pull out their smartphones to capture the rare and unique moment of seeing a sidewalk designed for texters.
Schleicher doesn’t believe that “phone lanes” would work over here in the States. “I do not think that enough people would take the time to acknowledge the difference in lanes while going about their business. If these designated lanes were to be enforced, I feel that the sheer number of people on their phones assigned to the one lane would actually impede the traffic flow,” Schleicher said. Sadly, rather than taking the necessary steps to prevent any severe fatalities resulting from the constant smartphone distraction, individuals will continue to bury their heads in their cell phones while walking on busy sidewalks.
Kenisha Ebanks can be reached at senia.ebanks@spartans.ut.edu