Texting and walking is a modern day reality. You have probably seen the many YouTube videos of people walking into walls and poles because they are distracted by texting on their cell phones. People text and walk so often there is a good chance you might be one of the people from the YouTube footage.
Humans are creatures of high intelligence but we seem to only be able to focus on one thing at a time. So if we are texting then we are oblivious to our surroundings. There are a lot of dangers that can come from texting and walking. If you complete this practice on a busy street and try to jay walk in New Jersey you will be given a steep ticket. In London the city has added protective padding around the poles and sign posts on their streets in hopes of decreasing injury.
How can we fix this problem? If I received a ticket or fell off a pier while completing this action I might learn my lesson. Yet, the dilemma is how do we get people to change their actions before injury occurs? Creating awareness by word of mouth and YouTube footage has not seemed to slow people down at all. China has come up with a solution that just might help this world wide problem. China has walking lanes designated for both texters and non-texters. These lanes are similar to bike lanes or to put it simply they are divided sidewalks. These lines were painted to hopefully quarantine the text-walkers and keep everybody a bit further from harm.
Do you think this is a good idea? Do you think a texting lane would be helpful in your city?
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