In light of an increase in smartphone use, along with some folks becoming addicted to their devices, authorities of a Chinese city have created special lanes for phone obsessed pedestrians. This, however, is not the only precaution that is being taken to protect these citizens.
Following the lead of the German city of Augsburg, which sunk LED light strips into the pavement to alert smartphone addicts, Dutch city Bodegraven is testing out a similar measure.
Developed by local firm HIG Traffic Systems, the +Lichtlijn, as it has officially been dubbed, consists of an LED strip sunk into the pavement, which is linked to existing traffic lights and changes colour at the same time.
Kees Oskam, member of the city council declared that “‘Social media, games, WhatsAp [sic] and music are major distractions in traffic. We may not be able to change this trend, but we can anticipate problems.”
In contrast to mister Oskam’s statement, a spokesman for Dutch road safety lobby group Veilig Verkeer Nederland (VVN) declared that what the authorities are doing is “rewarding bad behaviour”.
Naturally, HIG Traffic Systems hopes to sell the +Lichtlijn to other local authorities.
Source: Dutch News, Ars Technica | Image: Bodegraven town council via Dutch News
