Modern problems require modern solutions and this is what a video of a unique traffic signal in South Korea seems to show. Besides the pole, traffic lights are also installed on the ground to help those glued to their phone screens while crossing roads.
Shared by industrialist Shrinivas Dempo on Twitter, the video shows pedestrians waiting at the zebra crossing of a busy road in Seoul. Red LED lights can be seen glowing on the pavement as the traffic light displays a stop signal. Later, the traffic light and the ones installed in the ground turn green and the commuters start crossing the road.
“Sign of the times: Traffic signals move down to the road level at this crossing in Seoul so that people they call Smombies (smartphone obsessed zombies) can safely cross the roads while using their smartphones,” the Dempo chairman wrote.
At the time of writing this, the clip had amassed more than 5 lakh views on Twitter.
According to a report by Independent, the traffic lights were first installed as part of a trial project in 2019 to curb the increasing number of accidents at pedestrian crossings. It was aimed at informing pedestrians about when it is safe to cross the road while they stare at their mobile screens. The South Korean government also introduced an alert system the same year that sends a notification to the phone of a person if he is about to cross a road with live traffic.
By January this year, nearly 1,200 in-ground traffic lights had been installed in 25 districts of Seoul. According to an official, the supplementary lights were embedded to alert “smartphone zombies” but later proved to be useful in ensuring the safety of children as well. The district office planned to expand this traffic light system across Seoul, especially in areas around schools, reported The Korean Times.
