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InfrontofashoppingmallalongYantaRoadinXi鈥檃n,capitalcityofnorthwestChina鈥檚ShaanxiProvince,awalkinglanerecentlyappearedexclusivelydesignedforphubbers鈥攕low-movingsmartphoneuserswiththeireyesgluedtotheirphonescreens.Thelaneispaintedred,greenandblueandis80cmwideand100meterslong,withvisiblepicturesofsmartphonessothatphubberscanquicklyidentifyit.
Somethinkthisspeciallanewillmakephubbers鈥檛raveloncitystreetssaferwhilemakingitbetterforthosewhodonotusesmartphonesonthestreets.Othersbelievethelaneisencouragingphubberstogoevenfurtherontheroadofsmartphoneaddictionandthusputsthematgreaterrisk.
Aconsideratemethod
FanZijun(www.voc.cn):Thereisaloudvoiceagainsthavingaspeciallaneforphubbersthatarguesthatit鈥檚unfair.However,oncethereasonforbuildingitismadeclear,peoplewillfindthattheyhavemisunderstoodthesincerityofthissmallproject.
Thisspeciallanewasbuiltonablockdevotedtotech-innovationindustries,anditwassetupbyashoppingmall.SincetherearemanyITworkersintheareawhoareusedtolookingattheirsmartphones,andthereisanearbyparkinglot,thisspeciallanewasbuilttowarncarstomoveslowlysoastodefuseanyriskstothesephubbers.
Wedon鈥檛advocatethepracticeofstaringatphonescreenswhilewalking,butsincethisgroupistangibleexistencethatnoonecanignore,thereshouldbemethodsofcopingwiththissituation.Currently,thisisthebestsolutionthattheshoppingmallcouldcomeupwithtoensurethecommunity鈥檚safety.
YangYulong(www.eastday):It鈥檚wrongforpeopletohavetheireyesgluedtotheircellphones,especiallywhenwalkingonthestreets,buttherearealwayssomeexceptions.Forexample,theremaybeanimportantorurgentphonecalloranimportantmessage.Foryoungpeoplewhoareworkinghardinbigcitiesformoreopportunitiesoffurtherdevelopment,timeandefficiencyareespeciallyvaluable.Tomissoneimportantmessagemightleadtothelossofabusinessopportunity.Thus,notallphubbersareentertainingthemselveswhilestaringattheirphonescreens.
Sinceit鈥檚inevitableforsomepeopletousesmartphoneswhilewalkingonthestreets,it鈥檚absolutelynecessaryforsupportivefacilitiestofollowup.Sincethelaneisclosetoaparkinglot,itcanhelptopreventphubbersfrombumpingintocars.Atleast,theirliveswillnotbeatriskonthislane.
However,thisisnotareplicablepractice.Topaintwordslike鈥渟pecialphubberlanes鈥漮nthestreetsisillegalinmanycities.ThelaneinXi鈥檃nisinfrontofashoppingmall,whichisgeographicallyspecialandismadeoutofaplastictrackthatiscomfortabletowalkon.
Safetyisalwaystheparamountconcernonthestreets.Thehabitofwalkingwithyoureyesgluedtoacellphoneisitselfdangerousandbothersometootherphoneandroadusers.Evenifthereisaspeciallaneforthem,ifphubbersdonottakecare,theymaybumpintootherphubbersonthesamelaneorevenfalloverontotheroad.Thus,itissafertogetthemtostopstaringattheirphonescreensthantoprovidethemwithaspeciallane.
Don鈥檛enablephubbers
DingJiafa(www.rednet.cn):Ibelievewhetherthislanewasbuiltbycityadministrativeauthoritiesorcertainbusinessestocatchpublicattention,itisnotawisewaytoensurepedestriansafety.Instead,itmayabetthepublicinusingsmartphonesontheroadmoreoftenandthuscausemoredangersinthelongrun.
Undoubtedly,theappearanceofphubbersisagreatchallengeforcitymanagement.Inordertoeliminatepotentialrisks,policymakershavetakenmeasurestoprotectthesesmartphoneusers.However,thespeciallaneremindsusofthelanesfortheblind.Theyarequitesimilarinpurpose,butsmartphoneusersarenotblindandtheycanobservetheirsurroundingenvironmentclearly.Therefore,theyshouldtaketheresponsibilityoftakingcareofthemselvesinsteadofrelyingonspeciallydesignedlanesfortheirconvenience.Inmyopinion,settingupspeciallanesforphubbersisinnatureanencouragementforsmartphoneuserstoignoretheirpersonalsafety.
Thespeciallaneistotallyopen,thusitisnotassafeasmanypeoplethink.Evenwhenphubberswalkonthespeciallane,iftheyareimmersedintheirsmartphoneswithoutpayingattentiontotheirsurroundings,incidentswillstilloccur.Sothismeasuredoesnoteliminatesafetyconcernscompletely.
Ontheonehand,inreality,fewsmartphoneuserswillusethespeciallane,asitislimitedtoacertainplaceandistooshort.Ontheotherhand,thismeasurewillhavepeoplebelieveitisreasonableandrighttousephonesontheroadandthusemboldeningmorepedestrianstousetheirphoneswhilewalking.Itisbetternottobuildspeciallanesforphubbers,sincetheirshortcomingsfaroutweightheirbenefits.
YuanHao(www.eastday):Publicopinionsdifferwidelyonaspeciallaneforsmartphoneusers.SupportersaretolerantandevenclaimthatWashington,D.C.,capitaloftheUnitedStates,onceplannedasimilarspeciallaneonaparticularavenue.Theybelievethismeasureismeaningfulevenifitisforthepurposeofcatchingpublicattentionandshowingthedangerofsmartphoneaddiction.
However,buildingspeciallanesforsmartphoneusersisnotawarningbutakindofencouragementofbadhabits.Tosomeextent,settingupspeciallaneswillguardpedestriansfrompotentialrisksandwillwinthefavorofpeoplewhoareusedtowalkingwhileusingtheirsmartphones.Butthegoalshouldbetoridthemofthisbadhabit,nottobuildaspeciallaneforthem.Itisundoubtedlyawasteofpublicresources.
Actually,thespeciallaneideaintheUnitedStatesisquitedifferentfromtheChineseone.ItwasnotbuiltbylocalauthoritiesinWashington,D.C.,butwasdevisedbyMindoverMasses,aprogramontheNationalGeographicChannel.Theprogramdidanexperimenttargetingsmartphoneaddicts.Itdividedlocalstreetsintotwocategories:onehadanoticethatread鈥淣ocellphones,鈥漺hiletheotheroneread鈥淐ellphones,walkatyourownrisk.鈥滺owever,theresultsoftheexperimentwereunsatisfactorybecausemostsmartphoneusersdidnotevennoticethewarningsontheground.Onlyahandfulofthemsawthenoticeandchangedtheirpath.
ThefactistheUnitedStatesisverystrictaboutphubbers.InHonolulu,capitalofHawaii,pedestriansusingcellphoneswhilewalkingontheroadarefinedamaximumof$99.However,thereisstillnopunishmentforphubbersinChina.Inmyopinion,phubbers,likedrunkdrivers,shouldbeseverelypunished.Relevantauthoritiesaresupposedtoinformthepublicoftheharmofusingsmartphonesonthestreets.Probably,onlyrealaccidentcaseswillhelptodragphubbersfromthebrinkofthecliff.
Inconclusion,phubbersshouldbewarned,butbynomeansshouldtheybeconnivedandevenencouragedtousesmartphonesontheroadbybuildinglanesexclusivelyforthem.
Aneducationalopportunity
XuYijia(www.people.cn):Thespeciallanefortheso-calledphubbersisnotthefundamentalwaytoeradicatepotentialdanger,andthuscitiesaroundthecountryneedtogiveitasecondthoughtbeforetheybegintoreplicatethislane.Thisspeciallaneistotallyopen,soit鈥檚notabsolutelysafeforitsusers.Moreover,thesinglespeciallaneisunabletoshieldallofthephubbersinsociety,soitismorelikeastunt.Sincethislanehasdesignatedpeopletomaintainorder,itappearssafeforsmartphoneusers.However,itsappearancetosomeextentwilljustifysomephubbers鈥檃ddictiontotheirphoneswhilewalking,andthusencouragemorepeopletodoso.Thislaneisgoingtoofarintermsofcaringforsmartphoneusers,whileatthesametime,squeezinglimitedsocialresources.
Thislane,however,canbeusedasatrialtodiscouragephubbersfromusingsmartphoneswhenwalkingonthestreets.Phubbershaverecentlybecomeanincreasednuisance,buttherearefeweffectivewarningsavailable.Inthissense,tosetupaspeciallaneonthestreets,installedwithwarningsandinstructions,willeducatemorepeopleaboutthisproblem.
Actually,thedebateonwhethertocopyspeciallanesforsmartphoneusersshouldbesteeredtomorediscussionsonhowtobettereducatephubbers.
LISHIGONGCopyeditedbyRebecaToledo