You can’t assault a phone.
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This report should be linked in some way with reports of ‘causes for driving while angry’.
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… no matter how much you want to.
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That no one owes you social attention.
Okay, maybe I just say that.
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NYC isn’t even top-25 for pedestrian deaths. The cars move too slowly, are always on the lookout for pedestrians who can come out of nowhere, and are dominated by taxis. A similar study might be different in a city in Florida.
Cars aside, when I was young NYC was a joy to walk in, because everyone walked at a decent pace. Now foot traffic on the Manhattan sidewalks moves zombielike because of the phones.
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Despite the title, the study didn’t find that this is “fine,” just that it’s not a significant cause of pedestrian death. As others have pointed out, it’s antisocial, inconsiderate, and can lead to non-life threatening injuries. Don’t be a jerk. If you want to focus on virtual reality, kindly remove yourself from the flow of pedestrian (and all other) traffic.
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The rest of our phone-less primate relatives would beg to differ.
I think I saw Tampa/St. Pete/Clearwater area topped the list of most dangerous of U.S. localities for cyclists.
I should share this study with my coworker who waked into a cement pillar while texting and got a black eye. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it!
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All I know is that, biking across a college campus I have, on multiple occasions, stopped my bike to avoid running into some oblivious texter only to watch in bemusement as they continue to walk right into me, even with me trying to get their attention.
I think the manner in which this study appears to focus on automobiles as the primary threat may be its problem. A reintroduction of large, predatory cats, say, to densely populated areas with high walking and texting levels would, I feel confident, show a much more distinct and pronounced deviation.
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I recommend focussing on drinking.
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Oh, you don’t need a phone to do that
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It is rude to not watch where you are going while walking down the street. As someone who does not yield to those who can’t be bothered to pay attention I can tell you for a fact the entitled sense that others must watch out for you can be distressing when you discover that others don’t think you are special.
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Nope. Mixing phones and driving a car is still quite bad, worse than driving drunk. Phones are to walking shoes as games are to guns. (Mostly not part of what makes the human in control of the potentially dangerous device do something bad, but people think they are.)
That’s a bizarre synopsis, because any reasonable interpretation of “phones : cars” would involve using the phone while driving.
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As an antisocial twatnozzle myself, I don’t know what point you’re trying to make here.
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I recently stopped.someone from walking into the path of a speeding ambulance because they were in full on phone and earbud mode.
So, my theory is if this study is correct it is because society has adapted to prevent accidents. However, it doesn’t mean that walking and texting isn’t annoying and dangerous.
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I don’t trust this study at all. Back in the day, I noticed that pedestrians listening to Walkmans were a lot less attentive to their surroundings. I called them Walkman Zombies. (“The Walkman Dead” would have been better if I could have predicted TV shows decades in advance.) That was nothing to the people I see stumbling around these days.
Do you socialize a lot with strangers while walking to the bus stop or down the street to get groceries?
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