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What was wrong with letting stupid people walk into traffic and kill themselves? In what is being (accurately) described as a “reward for unsafe behavior,” a town is wasting everyone’s time and money by installing fancy light strips by intersections so smartphone users won’t actually have to look up before crossing.
Officials in the town of Bodegraven are running trials of new traffic lights which warn pedestrians staring at their mobile phones that they are about the cross the road. The new traffic light consists of a led lighting strip in the pavement which officials hope will alert "zombies" who are looking at the road not at traffic. "Social media, games, WhatsApp, and music are major distractions in traffic," said town alderman Kees Oskam. "We may not be able to change this trend, but we can anticipate problems." The +Lichtlijn, as the traffic light is officially called, is linked to existing traffic lights and changes colour at the same time. Dutch road safety organisation VVN said it did not think the new lighting would be a solution. "What you are doing is rewarding bad behavior," a spokesman said.
Officials in the town of Bodegraven are running trials of new traffic lights which warn pedestrians staring at their mobile phones that they are about the cross the road. The new traffic light consists of a led lighting strip in the pavement which officials hope will alert "zombies" who are looking at the road not at traffic. "Social media, games, WhatsApp, and music are major distractions in traffic," said town alderman Kees Oskam. "We may not be able to change this trend, but we can anticipate problems." The +Lichtlijn, as the traffic light is officially called, is linked to existing traffic lights and changes colour at the same time. Dutch road safety organisation VVN said it did not think the new lighting would be a solution. "What you are doing is rewarding bad behavior," a spokesman said.
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