Lampposts have been a major hindrance to pedestrians for centuries. It is a fight that goes back to before (we’re pretty sure) the invention of fire. Just try wandering around the streets aimlessly with your eyes closed and an inner ear infection and not running into one headfirst. We dare you.
Luckily, we may not have to live in fear much longer. In London, a street is experimenting with padded lampposts.
A survey showed that 68,000 people were injured in the U.K. last year while chatting or texting and that more than a quarter of the respondents want lines on the pavement so they know where to walk.
Yep, apparently people are paying so much attention to their cell phones, texting devices, kidney pies, tea cups, stickers and whatever else people in England enjoy, they can’t avoid stationary objects.
Of course, we don’t think a padded lamppost and lined pavement is going far enough. Sure, lines to show you where to walk are fine, but how are we going to know when to eat? Where to sleep? When and where to use the restroom? Where are those lines?
Unless London wants streets full of pedestrians slamming into lampposts, eating trash and sleeping in their own feces, we recommend they get serious about texters’ needs.
And be careful, they could take this all the way to the queen. As long as you draw them a line.
