Put signs on pavements to save lives of ‘zombie pedestrians’

IT’S an infuriating habit of the modern age, which can have fatal consequences for those who cannot live without their mobile phones.

But a Government transport adviser has come up with a radical solution to Britain’s army of ‘zombie pedestrians’ who walk along with their eyes fixed on their handsets. Shaun Helman has called for road signs to be placed on the ground to stop them walking into the paths of cars .

These could include ‘text walking lanes’ with painted white arrows to guide them along safely, and strips of red lights on kerbs to warn them to stop and look before crossing the road. ‘If we are thinking about injury prevention... there is a strong case for redesigning infrastructure over relying on other methods of changing behaviour,’ said Mr Helman.

He said it is a ‘myth’ that people can walk along and use their mobile phone safely.

Mr Helman, who is chief transport scientist at the Transport Research Laboratory, said that even if public education initiatives were launched to ‘nudge’ pedestrians, as well as just drivers, off their smart phones many people would persist with this ‘undesirable’ behaviour.

In Holland a light system on kerbs which flash red to stop zombie pedestrians has been successfully trialled.