Use of the phone while walking and driving is a problem to be addressed

In 2014, authorities in the Chinese city of Chongqing debuted a 30-metre-long mobile phone lane for pedestrians, not long after Washington DC did the same on a sidewalk. While the latter was done as part of a crowd behaviour experiment for a TV channel, the Chinese motive was not dissimilar: an attempt to prod people to think of how much time they spend on their phones. Even a smartphone company in Antwerp followed suit last June. Interestingly, a common motive cited for these pedestrian traffic segregation initiatives was the prevention of accidental collisions by unmindful perambulating texters, leading to bruises and broken phones. Since texting or talking on phones while commuting has only been rising, it is time to do try out this experiment on roads too, for drivers who persist in doing the same.

As the Delhi government has recently announced plans for ‘double-decker’ roads — first mooted when Sheila Dikshit was chief minister — with separate carriageways for buses and other traffic respectively, it should seriously consider planning a third one for texting and talking drivers, along with exorbitantly high fines for straying, to ensure compliance. It would come as a relief for inveterate mobile users as well as those routinely inconvenienced by meandering vehicles that usually indicate phone-engaged occupants.