Check it out! China creates walking lane for Smartphone users

A city in China, Chongqing, has designated a walking lane for Smartphone users. They can now shuffle along in unison.

Tired of people clogging up the pavement at a beauty spot, authorities in the city divided the pavement into two sections with the warning: "Cell phones - walk in this lane at your own risk."

Nong Cheng, a spokesman for the company which manages the area, said: "There are lots of elderly people and children in our street, and walking with your cellphone may cause unnecessary collisions here."

The scheme was inspired by a behaviour experiment carried out in Washington DC in July.
According to a 2012 University of Washington study, one in three people are distracted by mobile devices at high risk road crossings, and are less likely to look both ways or obey traffic signals.

"Distracted walking" may also be to blame for a recent increase in pedestrian deaths, opines the US Department of Transportation.

In Taiwan, fines have been proposed for people who use their phones while crossing the street after a woman was killed using her device earlier this year.

However, it turns out the 50 metres-long lane in Chongqing could be making things worse.
People’s Daily newspaper reports that tourists are now stopping to take snaps of the unique divide, with regular incursions into the wrong lane.

China is the world's biggest Smartphone market, with an estimated 700 million devices at the end of last year.

Photos: SKYNEWS