Seoul tries flashy fix for its 'smartphone zombies'

A city in South Korea has installed flickering lights and laser beams at a road crossing to warn "smartphone zombies" to look up and drivers to slow down, in the hope of preventing accidents. Grace Lee reports.

South Korea has a 'smombie' epidemic.

That's short for 'smartphone zombie,' a word used for pedestrians glued to their phones in local media.

They say they're often seen bumping into people, poles or worse.

That's why the government has come up with this: a 'smombie' warning system.

It's a combination of an app, a laser beam and some flickering lights.

The beamed message says: "Wait! A car is coming."

Photo illustration of a person with smartphone in a hand after accident on a pedestrian crossing. Gettyimagesbank

SENIOR RESEARCHER AT KOREA INSTITUTE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING AND BUILDING TECHNOLOGY, KIM JONG-HOON, SAYING:

"When the radar sensor and thermal imaging camera detects a vehicle and a pedestrian - it'll trigger the flashing lights on the road, and the smart phone app sends a warning message too."

The system was designed by government engineers and costs about $13,000 to install per crosswalk.

There's been headlines in South Korean media about the dangers of these so-called 'smombies', and how they might drive up the country's already high road death rate.

Data from South Korea's traffic accident records show that in 2017 more than 1,600 pedestrians were killed in auto-related accidents, making up about 40 percent of all traffic fatalities.

23-YEAR-OLD SOUTH KOREA'S PEDESTRIAN, KIM DAN-HEE, SAYING:

"This flickering light makes me feel safe as it makes me look around again, and I hope that we can have more of these in town."

The smombie warning system is currently installed at only one crosswalk in a suburb near Seoul.

But its makers they expect officials will take it nationwide in the future. (Reuters)

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