China

Pedestrian Lane for ‘Smartphone Zombies' Opens Up in China

What to Know

  • A pedestrian lane has opened up in China designated for “smartphone zombies” or those who just can’t keep their eyes off their phones
  • The lane is found outside the Bairui Plaza shopping mall in the city of Xi’an within the northwest province of Shaanxi
  • This is not the first time that special areas for pedestrian phone use have been designated

The sight of people walking slowly with their heads down all while glued to their smartphones has become commonplace — so much so that a lane has opened up in China designated for “smartphone zombies” or those who just can’t keep their eyes off their phones.

The managers of the Bairui Plaza shopping mall in the city of Xi’an within the northwest province of Shaanxi came up with an out-of-the-norm strategy to cater to cellphone-using pedestrians who can’t be bothered to take their eyes off of their devices, according to a recent New York Times report.

However, all is not what it seems.

Cao Hanjia, the mall’s spokesperson, said the shopping center is not advocating for people to look at their phones, according to the Times.

Messages painted along the path suggest that the intent is not solely to provide a designated lane for device-loving pedestrians, but rather to have them look up.

“Please don’t look down for the rest of your life” and “Path for the special use of the heads-down tribe” are messages seen on the pedestrian lane.

Although this path might be a tongue-in-cheek way of trying to dissuade pedestrians from using their phones, this is not the first time that special areas for pedestrian phone use have been designated.

Augsburg, Germany, implemented traffic light onto the surface of the street a couple of years ago to stop texting pedestrians from walking into traffic.

Rima Abdelkader contributed to this story.

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