We are all guilty of walking down the street and receiving an interesting message or email from a friend or colleague, and unwittingly losing all awareness of our surroundings in favor of our smartphones.
Seeking to avoid such casualties, Tel Aviv-Jaffa joined this week a growing list of cities installing LED ground-level lights at pedestrian crossings, designed to warn texting pedestrians that they are about to cross the road.
According to a US Governors Highway Safety Association published last year, one of the key factors behind the record increase in pedestrian casualties across the country was “the dramatic growth in smartphone use.”
The new lights, part of a municipality trial, are connected to traffic lights on the city’s major Ibn Gvirol Road, opposite the municipality building. The LED floor lighting changes color at the same time as regular eye-level lights.
Should the trial be successful, the municipality plans to install the lights throughout the city.