The most commented-on article of the day on Yahoo! Japan was the revelation that more people than ever are involved in accidents using their smartphones while walking or cycling, and surprisingly, most of those are in their forties, rather than in their teens or twenties.
While Japan is well-known for its fondness for mobile technology, netizens ask whether the time has come to legally prevent people from using smartphones while in transit as a means of preventing serious accidents.
What do you think? Are smartphones really a new danger on the streets of Japan?
From Yahoo! Japan:
Number of Accidents Using Smartphones While Walking Increases; Highest Number Of People (36) Need Emergency Ambulances, Last Year There Was Even A Death — Tokyo Fire Department
Over the past year the number of people in Tokyo who were taken to hospital by ambulance after having accidents using a smartphone or a mobile while walking or riding a bike rose to 36. This is understood to be the highest number of people in four years according to an investigation by the Tokyo Fire Department. This is an increase of approximately 1.5 times the number of incidents in 2010 (23), and the number has increased year on year along with the spread of smartphones.
Regarding the use of smartphones and mobiles while walking, the Fire Department called for caution, saying “It’s not only you who could get injured, there is also the fear that those around you might also be involved in an accident; it is extremely dangerous”.
The primary cause of accidents that occurred in the past year happened while people were using the phones or looking at the screens. This was the case for 26 people. Next, 5 people were injured while talking on the phone.
Over the 4 years between 2010 and 2013, a total of 122 people had accidents due to walking while using a mobile or smartphone, and divided by age group people in their 40s had accidents most frequently, followed by people in their 20s. Around 40% of the accidents were comprised of “bumping into things/people”, followed by “stumbling” or “falling”. As for the extent of the injuries of those taken to hospital by ambulance, 80% were minor injuries; however, there were also cases where people needed to be hospitalized or even died.
In October 2013, in Itabashi ward, Tokyo, a man (47) who was looking at his mobile phone as he walked along walked straight into a railway crossing, and was killed when he was hit by a train. In May of the same year, a boy (10) in the 5th year of elementary school who was walking while he used his mobile phone on a station platform in JR Yotsuya Station (Shinjuku ward) fell onto the tracks, and was seriously injured. According to the Fire Department, more than 80% of people were injured on the road or at a transport facility, and among those, accidents at the station stood out most.
Comments from Yahoo! Japan:
[Most upvoted first]
pea*****:
You lot using smartphones while walking! Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you’re not bumping into people — it’s just that we’re avoiding you!
hen*****:
Oh, and I really wish they’d do something about those bastards who fiddle with your smartphones while riding bikes.
5656:
You reap what you sow.
mak*****:
It’s up to them if they want to injure or kill themselves, but I wish they’d stop involving other people.
龍馬:
They have a dependency. That’s a kind of illness.
mobam＠s:
It’s fine if people who use those things die because of their own actions, but it’s just intolerable for the people who get dragged into things. They should ban this stuff under the Road Traffic Act and punish people.
☆普通の名前がいい☆:
In town, no matter where you look there are people fiddling with smartphones…
On the train, virtually everyone…on their smartphone…(^^;)
I guess a lot of them have a dependency.
☆普通の名前がいい☆:
They just don’t get it until they get hurt themselves…(-_-#)
ku2*****:
Staring fixedly at your smartphone while walking you might also end up giving pickpockets and perverts a chance to get at you.
***************:
Someone please give smartphones a function like a pedometer so that when they sense movement people can’t use them!
mas*****:
I can’t believe that there are still people doing this even when it’s become such a controversial topic.
People using smartphones on their bikes should get prison sentences.
tas*****:
I suppose those people intend to walk normally when they’re using these phones,
but they’re so irritating, staggering and walking at a snail’s pace!
leo*****:
There are way too many mothers about who use their smartphones without even glancing at the kids they have with them.
Don’t be complaining if they get taken along with a stranger.
div*****:
When someone using a smartphone comes from in front of you, how about a law where it’s OK to take them down with a karate chop?
パトラッシュ:
Loads of people using smartphones on bikes, too!!
Even if these people get hit by a car then the car driver should bear less responsibility for the error!!
