Do you know the "smombie", this dangerous behavior adopted by many pedestrians?

What does "smombie" mean?

Walking on the street, staring at the screen of his smartphone, crossing a pedestrian crossing, still taped to his phone, without thinking for a second to watch if a car or a scooter arrives ... The phenomenon of "Smombie" worries more and more.

Behind this strange word, hides a practice for the least dangerous. Formed from words "Smartphone" and "Zombie", the smombie is about taking risks walking the streets, neglecting the environment and the dangers that can be, and focus only on your smartphone.

Dangerous behavior that could lead to road accidents

Like nomophobia, which is the "phobic" fear of being without a smartphone, the smombie affects more and more people, as already revealed by several surveys made plubliques.

According to a survey published by the DEKRA Road Safety Unit and conducted in 2016 in six European capitals, "17% of pedestrians use their smartphone in their urban journeys".

The same year, a study OpinionWay sure "Pedestrians and the phone in town"revealed that 27% of respondents agreed to continue their telephone conversation or to send a text message or an email while crossing from time to time, and 8% said to do so "often".

And this dangerous behavior would be responsible for many accidents involving pedestrians, who would not look before crossing a street, if a car or a two-wheeler arrived ...

What solutions to counter this phenomenon?

Faced with this type of behavior, several cities have already decided to act.

In Sardinia for example, the city of Sassari, people who would cross their eyes on their phone risk a fine of 22 euros. As in Hawaii where the ticket can reach the equivalent of 85 euros if you get caught several times crossing, taped to your smartphone!

In South Korea, where the number of mobile phones is particularly high, flashing light systems installed on crosswalks, to effectively prevent pedestrians and drivers. But they did not stop there: they also planned to warn people of the danger by projecting a laser beam from the electric poles and an alert can be sent to you directly on your smartphone if you download an application provided for this purpose.

In Israel, too, measures have been taken: the city of Tel Aviv has installed LED strips on each side of the roadway, in addition to the conventional traffic lights, these lights turn green or red to alert people. 'a possible danger on the road, pedestrians crossing the gaze down ... to their phone.

Read also :

⋙ How smartphones change the shape of our teenagers' hands

⋙ Your smartphone is a nest of bacteria: when should it be cleaned?

⋙ The French are ready to do without sex ... but no smartphone!