Beware of the Smombies: how smartphones affect our infrastructure

Next time you are taking a walk to work, have a look around you. You will probably notice that most of your fellow pedestrians are glued to their phones, rather than enjoying the sights around them. That is, if you yourself aren’t among one of them. Our smartphones are taking up a lot of our attention which comes with inevitable complications, especially when taking part in traffic. This leads to a number of solutions, hoping to make our roads a bit safer when dealing with so-called smartphone zombies, or ‘smombies’. Here we share a few examples of such solutions. Innovative or silly, maybe both. Take a look and judge yourself. 

Warning: Smartphone Zombies! (Sweden)

In the inner city of Stockholm, pedestrians are warned for smartphone zombies. In order to notice the sign, they should not be glued to their phones themselves, though.

Watch out when using your smartphone in traffic! (South-Korea)

Also in Seoul traffic signs have been placed to warn pedestrians of the dangers of smartphone usage in traffic.

Don’t use your phone while driving your car! (England)

In Norfolk trial smart road signs are placed that can pick up active phone signals. They even can tell the difference between active phone calls and other activities based on the strength of a signal. When it detects activity, it will flash up a red warning signal to drivers.

Traffic lights for smartphone zombies (Netherlands)

How does the smombie cross the road? With a traffic light placed on the ground, rather than up in the air. The led lightning strip is linked to existing traffic lights and alerts smombies when it’s time to cross.