That distractions are one of the most frequent causes of traffic accidents is something well known to all. What is not so well known is that many of these imprudent actions are committed by the pedestrians and not by vehicles. People who do not pay attention when crossing a street because they are distracted by answering a message from WhatsApp Sufficient reason for the town council of the Murcian town of San Javier to have decided to implement traffic signalsfor pedestrians warning of the practice of distracted walking.
These signs, which have been installed on the promenade and crowded areas of the urban area, read the following message: Attention pedestrians, pay attention while walking, your WhatsApp can wait With this they want to create debate and draw attention to the bad practice of distracted walking, which can lead not only to run overs, but rather all kinds of accidents such as falls, trips and collisions with elements on the road Something that may seem trivial or derisory to many, but which are actually facts of the more frequent.
Despite the surprising news, the fact has precedents. And it is that the issue of accidents due to pedestrian distraction is a widespread problem, partly due to applications such as WhatsApp or Facebook Thus, the Councilor for Public Services of San Javier , José Miguel Luengo, provides data from the United States where, during the past year 2012, more than 60.000 pedestrians were injured for not paying attention when walking glued to their mobile phones, according to the Murcian media outlet laverdad.es
In fact, this model of road sign is already familiar to some Americans, who may have come across messages like “Pay attention while walking, your status update Facebook can wait” in the middle of the street. In some North American states it is even illegal this practice, even being punished with economic fines of around 85 dollars (about 70 euros ). In other places such as London, it was decided to temporarily install streetlights padded that prevent blows from distraction, in addition to implanting with This creates a new advertising space.
For the moment, in the case of the Murcian town of San Javier no sanctions have been foreseen, being only a measure to get the attention of passers-by and create debate about the fact of walking distracted.It will be necessary to see if they achieve what they are looking for and if other localities decide to copy the measure, reaching the point of generalizing this type of signs to avoid traffic accidents with pedestrians, in where one in three cases is caused by distraction.
The application WhatsApp, as well as other communication tools, are part of our day to day, being a great utility to be in contact with people from any part of the world at a very low cost However, you must be aware of the consequences that entails its use. Both in legal issues for user privacy, and in he alth issues, where the needing to reply to a message can lead to an accident.
