Seoul adds warning signs for texting while walking

Seoul, South Korea is testing traffic signs warning users of the dangers of using smartphones while walking (Picture: Seoul Metropolitan Government).

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The Metropolitan Government in Seoul, South Korea has unveiled two traffic signs to warn users about the dangers of using smartphones while walking.

One - a yellow, triangular sign conventionally used for signalling hazards - displays a person colliding with a car while looking at their smartphone, signifying the dangers of walking without looking at one's surroundings. It is accompanied by text meaning "Warning: Using smartphone while walking."

The other, resembling a conventional "banned" sign, presents a red line through a picture of a person looking at a smartphone, urging pedestrians not to look at their smartphones while walking, and is accompanied by text advising people to "walk safely".

The new traffic signs will be put up in five districts in Seoul which have seen high numbers of smartphone-related accidents - City Hall, Gangnam Station, Hongdae, Jamsil station, and Yonsei University.

In January, ITWeb reported on a study at New York-based Stoney Brook University, which found that injuries caused by using smartphones while walking are likely to be higher than official figures indicate, as many smartphone users are embarrassed to admit they were injured while texting, using social media, or playing games on their phones.

Aside from walking into oncoming traffic or taking longer to cross the street, those who use smartphones while walking can also get hurt when falling down stairs, tripping over objects in their path, or bumping into walls or other obstructions, the study noted.

SA road safety initiative Arrive Alive noted a rise in accidents resulting from pedestrians' use of electronic devices, although precise statistics are difficult to obtain due to a lack of transparency from pedestrians involved in such accidents.

Seoul is not the first city to try to address the dangers of smartphone use while walking.

In 2014, a "cellphone lane" for people using smartphones on walkways was trialled in Washington, DC, following the idea's debut in Chinese theme park Yangren Jie, Mashable reported.