used to be answering the phone or doorbell when your baby is in bath. a baby can drown in 2 inches of water.
Many people, when their eyes are glued to the screen on their smartphone, have no idea what's going on around them. With all the apps available, these devices can do just about anything so I know that my suggestion, if adopted, could work. If all smartphones had a built-in feature that would disable its screen if it sensed that it was moving faster than 1 MPH, a lot of dangerous and deadly situations would be eliminated. I understand that this would never happen but how else do you keep millions of otherwise intelligent people from acting like idiots? It's like walking around with your eyes closed. No one would do that but, in my opinion, there's really no difference.
6
I agree with you on everything except the "intelligent" part.
Do you value time with your smartphone more than time with people? (Me, too.) Do friends, family and icky strangers intrude while you're performing extremely important tasks on your phone? You need Insulation©, the interruption prevention app for the human-contact averse! Insulation© detects the potential penetration into your world of a person, and erects a variety of barriers to keep them out! You may never have to deal with another human being ever again!
7
Forget the dramatic headline: this is plain, old child neglect. It's not a problem only in China -- where security cameras catch so many of these horrifying accidents -- and it's not solely smart phone obsession that is to blame for the inattention. It boils down to parents and minders not doing an adequate job watching the children in their care. It's a manifestation of a widespread self-centeredness and ditching of responsibility. I was in Costco the other day and saw a father with three or four little children, all of them sitting or standing in his push cart. The father was leaning away from the kids, with his head deep in product display and his back turned. His tiny daughter (a little over a year old) decided to stand up in the child-seat part of the cart, and turn around to watch him, but stumbled backward and ended up sitting momentarily on the cart handle. I caught her just before she toppled backwards onto her head. When I alerted the father, he abused me verbally. If she had fallen, I am certain the father would have sued Costco for child endangerment. That is the attitude now: the rest of the world is responsible for keeping my kids safe. The phone is just an excuse to look away.
14
China would have done well to consider this before switching from bicycles to cars in the 1990s.
2
yeah, U.S. would have done well to consider this before switching from hunting sticks to guns.
1
I've been regularly issuing literal, audible, "real world alerts" to various people as they go about their way in head-down mode, oblivious to those around them. It's especially irritating when I am out for a run and regularly end up startling people who find I am approaching them rapidly, with their usual response a gasp and startled jump, sometimes right into me or my path.
5
Rear ended last week by a texting teenager. She never asked if we were injured, never expressed regret for her actions. She continued texting until the police officer insisted that she stop. She was cited and her parents now have an insurance claim, but my money says she won't stop. Worse yet, on the Pa Turnpike Saturday morning, we spotted a weaving car( like the old drunk driving days). It was a man in his 30s or 40s happily texting while driving at least 55 mph on a highway. Seems to me these folks are addicts and should be treated as such. Take away the driver's license and the phone. Police need to monitor this much more too with severe punishments.
20
Nobody is a "good" driver. That's my experience here in Seattle. This is why we should be building more mass transit and limit the amount of antagonism possible with things like stupidity, rage, incompetence, etc… all things made possible by personal vehicles. Cars do not belong in cities. Driverless cars are just another antagonism considering they will be owned by the wealthy and not the poor who must purchase used cars which will not have those safety features. I'm confused how automakers using slightly different technologies for driverless vehicles will mesh… my guess is they won't.
4
Digital autism is everywhere, practiced by all ages and genders. It is the reason I am hoping fully automated cars really have arrived. Just in time too.
1
The deaths of these children is tragic. How do these mothers ever cope, knowing they are responsible for the deaths of their children? The guilt must be overwhelming. My heart goes out to them.
Of course, many less tragic accidents occur every day because people cannot tear themselves away from their phones. A friend of mine was just injured because she was walking from her car toward a store, didn't see a curb, and plunged straight down. She broke her nose, her cheekbone and a finger. All because she had to check her messages. Crazy, right? What message is worth months of pain and surgery?
Every day as I walk to work, I have to dodge around these phone people. I've seen them trip, bump into parking meters, each other. One man walked straight into a rack of sale clothes a shop had out on the sidewalk in front of the store. He had blouses all tangled up in his briefcase. That, at least was funny.
The phone people are oblivious to what's around them. No thought for personal safety. No interest in who is approaching. The phone is everything to them. It sustains them, entertains them, gives them comfort. It's creepy.
Of course, many less tragic accidents occur every day because people cannot tear themselves away from their phones. A friend of mine was just injured because she was walking from her car toward a store, didn't see a curb, and plunged straight down. She broke her nose, her cheekbone and a finger. All because she had to check her messages. Crazy, right? What message is worth months of pain and surgery?
Every day as I walk to work, I have to dodge around these phone people. I've seen them trip, bump into parking meters, each other. One man walked straight into a rack of sale clothes a shop had out on the sidewalk in front of the store. He had blouses all tangled up in his briefcase. That, at least was funny.
The phone people are oblivious to what's around them. No thought for personal safety. No interest in who is approaching. The phone is everything to them. It sustains them, entertains them, gives them comfort. It's creepy.
8
If the Chinese are truly going to be an advanced consumer-capitalist society they have to understand that these tragic-entertainment stories are not to be taken seriously. Rather, they are ephemeral vignettes provided by the corporate media-government complex to satisfy the urge of the comfort-seeking masses to shake their heads in condemnation and mutter "there-but-for-the-grace-of-superioirity-go-I."
2
Smart phone use while driving is the new drunk driving. Years ago drunk driving was more or less tolerated - people knew you shouldn't do it, but they did it anyway. Then government (inspired in part by groups like M.A.D.D.) came in and increased both legal penalties and enforcement.
Recent medical journal studies have revealed that smart phone use while driving is just as dangerous as drunk driving. Eventually enough innocent people will die to have widespread enforcement of prohibitions on mobile phone use. But we're not there yet.
Recent medical journal studies have revealed that smart phone use while driving is just as dangerous as drunk driving. Eventually enough innocent people will die to have widespread enforcement of prohibitions on mobile phone use. But we're not there yet.
6
Ever since the first phone call we have been conditioned to take the call. In movies, phone rings ..it's answered. Ignoring a call feels wrong and takes huge self-control. Conversely, your mom yelling at you in the next room is easy to ignore.
3
So many guilty parties in this: inattentive mother, the primary culprit; the driver, who should have noticed; the hulking SUV, over which the driver can't see in front of him once he climbed in; and so many local, state, and federal governments which are afraid to impose severe penalties on distracted device owners.
5
I'm curious. Foes this happen only in China? Or do we not want to see the litany of similar things that have happened here?
2
In the past, mechanisms that are inherently dangerous have been provided with "built-in" safety features -- elevators with automatic braking and sensors on doors, shatterproof glass, etc.
Why not require all cellphones to automatically turn off when they are in a roadway? I know, I know, what about passengers who want to phone. But is it worth it?
Why not require all cellphones to automatically turn off when they are in a roadway? I know, I know, what about passengers who want to phone. But is it worth it?
7
Not a bad idea, and I've got to think it wouldn't be that hard to implement. Manufacturers should make their smarty device useless, while in motion, for everything other than phone use and, perhaps, map functions. This might upset the Pokemon crowd (heh), and it certainly could ruin the day of those making app's expressly designed to grab attention, but hey....can't have everything can we?
But it's clear we humans are easily distracted (I see it every single day here in NYC). Some enforcement in public spaces is seems to be becoming a requirement since we (as a collective) are incapable of doing it ourselves...
John~
American Net'Zen
But it's clear we humans are easily distracted (I see it every single day here in NYC). Some enforcement in public spaces is seems to be becoming a requirement since we (as a collective) are incapable of doing it ourselves...
John~
American Net'Zen
3
Seattle expat - I think that's an excellent place to start. The "head-down" group seems to be not a "tribe" but rather a huge swath of humanity (which adds an addict when a young person gets their first "smart"phone). So any solutions should be on the provider (vs consumer) side because there's no turning back the tide of addiction (to glowing, colorful touchscreens).
1
Might make it hard to report an accident if that were enacted. Unless maybe the phone only allowed emergency calls while driving?
The on target and precisely critical message of major importance from Sherry Turkle, of MIT, should be on every tv and radio station constantly, plus billboards, fliers, all social media, etc.etc. , all over the world. This gradual robotification of our world is the current plague threatening humanism and communication between mortals.
22
The mother learned a very sad lesson. One's first obligation is to the child not a smartphone. This will not be the first tragedy, unfortunately.
13
I don't know what the answer is. It certainly dismays me when I see parents or nannies sitting on park benches glued to their screens while little ones sit nearby in strollers or carriages ignored. No longer are they interacting with the child, pointing out the squirrel or just enjoying each other. If the kid fusses, he is likely to be handed a toy phone or find himself in a distractedly moving stroller or given some screen technology with which to entertain him, i.e., keep him quiet.
I am also a bit tired of having to take evasive action on the sidewalk to keep from being run into by some idiot walking and staring at a small screen. If I do hit them, they act as if I am the problem.
I am also a bit tired of having to take evasive action on the sidewalk to keep from being run into by some idiot walking and staring at a small screen. If I do hit them, they act as if I am the problem.
70
Not only on park benches, same on trails, walking paths and bicycle paths. They wander in to my side of the path and when I call out or ring the warning, the response is - "watch where you are going" or worse.
1
In addition, what message are we sending our little ones? That the little screen is more important than them? Childhood goes by so fast as does the rest of life. Let's live the moment with human beings not with electronics.
2
Take away the driver's license of anyone holding a phone while driving.
38
it is prents and other caregivers.. just try any park, children playing by themselves or with other children, babies just sitting in their strollers, forgotten, nannies and parents typing and chatting away on their phone..
and then society complains about children..they dont know how to behave, they dont do this, they dont do that.. well it is our responsibility as adults to take care of them.
and then society complains about children..they dont know how to behave, they dont do this, they dont do that.. well it is our responsibility as adults to take care of them.
36
I commute almost one hour each way every day. Countless times I see people distracted by their cellphone, not looking at the road. 这个问题在世界上一样。
12
Hand-ringing?
Is that what you call it?
Is that what you call it?
7
"We can find our way back to each other"—but in this instance, that mother will never find her way back to her daughter. Mourning all around, and a poignant reminder that we can do more.
10
Maybe the child was an accident to begin with, as the mother may have been distracted by her cellphone during intercourse, failing to prevent conception, because, you know, ohhhh, cat video!!
1
I don't think the situation will improve until some parents are penalized in ways that matter. Serious fines. Suspended licenses.
11
Fines? Some can pay.
Get their attention--try jail time!
Get their attention--try jail time!
17
They say that foot binding stopped as soon as the first parents were executed for defying government order to stop the pracitice. Human behaviour can be modified.
1
Alas, this is how it is now. Rare is the on-duty parent in public who doesn't have his or her face glued to a fondleslab.
11
Oooh, I love that word! Fondleslab.
I finally got bumper stickers in hopes they would keep me from expressing from the driver's seat the continual rage I feel observing distracted drivers every single day. One sticker says: BEHIND THE WHEEL? PUT DOWN YOUR PHONE! and the other says, "TEXTING WHILE DRIVING IS DEADLY." We need to put severe peer pressure on the thoughtless people who continue to risk all our lives every single day. They need to feel like they are reviled.
I finally got bumper stickers in hopes they would keep me from expressing from the driver's seat the continual rage I feel observing distracted drivers every single day. One sticker says: BEHIND THE WHEEL? PUT DOWN YOUR PHONE! and the other says, "TEXTING WHILE DRIVING IS DEADLY." We need to put severe peer pressure on the thoughtless people who continue to risk all our lives every single day. They need to feel like they are reviled.
3
I can't believe how many children I see walking near or alongside their parents as they cross the street but not holding their hands. It takes a split second for a child to be run over---there is no excuse for not holding a child's hand as we cross the street.
44
It also amazes me how many people crossing the street do not bother to look at oncoming traffic. They cross at a diagonal sometimes, not looking at traffic at all. When you do this you are putting your life in the hands of a random stranger who may be texting on his cellphone or fiddling with the radio.
What about the terrible driving habits that could just as well be to blame.
13
I can't believe how many pedestrians cross streets while staring at their phones, they never look up. All it takes is a driver doing the same.
51
Another example of natural selection!
1