We’ve all done it before – walking while on your smartphone is perilous at best, avoiding other pedestrians or sometimes vehicles if you’re particularly confident/oblivious. To remedy this, the city of Chongqing in China has implemented a new initiative that splits the sidewalk into cellphone and non-cellphone lanes. We first saw something like this experimented by National Geographic, but it looks like the government of Chongqing has decided they want to adopt it, at least, in some parts of one of China’s largest city centres.
In theory, the concept is a pretty clever, and perhaps Darwinian, given that the cellphone only lane is adorned with “CELLPHONES: WALK IN THIS LANE AT YOUR OWN RISK” – by putting all the people who are using phones into one lane, it leaves a whole other lane for people to walk in who aren’t using their phones. It would be perfect if it weren’t for one key, perhaps ironic, oversight that has been observed during this trial – people who are using their phones don’t always notice the markings on the ground. Still, it’s a nice idea, and perhaps one that could be adopted more as the number of mobile-obsessed people in the world ever-increases.
What do you think about this initiative in China? Do you see this being useful around where you live? Let us know your opinion.
