Dutch Town Pilots Lightlines To Help Distracted Smartphone Users Cross the Road (autoexpress.co.uk)

An anonymous reader writes: A Dutch municipality has introduced pedestrian traffic lights specifically designed to help smartphone users avoid stepping into traffic by displaying a colorful strip of light on the pavement. Built by Dutch firm HIG Traffic Systems, the new +LightLine light comes with a LED strip that illuminates the pavement with a horizontal strip before the road crossing. Smartphone users looking at their phone will see the color of the strip beneath their feet before stepping out into the road.

Comments

You know..

[epyT-R]

All these kludges do is breed better idiots. Time to let darwin clean house a bit.

Overkill to going to fix this?

[rmdingler]

Smartphone users looking at their phone will see the colour of the strip beneath their feet before stepping out into the road.

If the two separate eye-level light indicators and the survival instinct you've been genetically encoded with don't grab your attention, it seems unlikely a third, foot level light strip will do it.

Let's be honest: You can be distracted merely thinking about something else when you should be paying attention. Hell, a driver who is paying attention might very well prevent a pedestrian impact... should we now then beam "Warning! Pedestrian!" into the vehicle's stereo speakers?

You're Making It Worse

[Baby Duck]

This teaches the wrong behavior and makes them less prepared for roads without lightlines or malfunctioning lightlines.