Smart phones are turning Tokyo residents into “zombies” who are glued to their screens and crash into others, a city official has said.
Tokyo Fire Department, which runs the ambulance service, said 122 people were taken to hospital in the past four years after being injured in accidents involving mobile phones. They include businessmen smacking into lamp-posts or tripping over dogs.
A middle-aged man died after straying on to a railway crossing while on a phone. Tetsuya Yamamoto, a senior official in the disaster prevention and safety section, said: “Incidents involving people walking or on bicycles account for 41 per cent of phone-related accidents. If people continue walking around looking at their phones, I think we could see more accidents happening.” More than half of Japanese people now own a smart phone. Research has found that a person’s field of vision while peering at a mobile is only five per cent of the normal range.
Apps have been developed with flashing sensors to warn users when another person is approaching.
Japanese media reported that around half of the 56 bodies recovered from a volcano peak after a recent eruption were gripping their mobiles. The phones were found to contain photos of lava and ash.
