If you're like me and get annoyed at people who bury their faces in their smartphones and walk around like zombies on busy city sidewalks and streets, you might want to make a trip to the Chinese city of Chongqing, home of the world's first designated texting lanes.
However, these texting lanes are not located on the city's sidewalks but rather in a theme park. The lanes were drawn on a 100-foot stretch of pavement to designate walking space for people whose eyes and locked to their screens and whose attentions aren't focused on what's physically ahead of them.
The dedicated texting lanes have a picture of a phone etched on the ground with the text "cell phones" boldly displayed in English and Mandarin.
While these lanes are merely located in a theme park, the growing problem of smartphone-related pedestrian injuries means you shouldn't be too shocked if they become a reality in other public settings.
What's Driving This Trend
- Designated Texting Lanes
- Designated texting lanes are becoming more popular in public places and cities.
- Smartphone-related Pedestrian Safety
- People are becoming more aware of the dangers of smartphone usage while walking or driving.
- Multilingual Signage for Safety
- Multilingual signage is becoming more important in public places for safety and accessibility.
Who This Affects Most
- Theme Parks
- Theme parks are leading the way in implementing designated texting lanes for their guests.
- Urban Planning
- Urban planners are considering the implementation of designated texting lanes in busy city areas.
- Signage and Printing
- The need for creative signage solutions, including multilingual options, is growing to address safety concerns for smartphone use.
