"People need to be aware of the risk – it only takes a split second to be hit by a car."It is just like having alcohol on board, you dont realise what is going on around you, so the phone is almost like a drug."One young student, Ibrahim, a Saudi Arabian national who is studying English in Sydney, knows just how dangerous being zoned out can be.He was hit by a bus which was travelling at 40 kilometres an hour in Sydneys busy CBD. The impact was so hard, his head smashed the windscreen.It is just like having alcohol on board, you dont realise what is going on around you, so the phone is almost like a drug.Dr Tony Grabs"I was listening to music and walking. I stepped out on the street wearing headphones. After that – accident," he said."Maybe if I didnt have the headphones I would have seen the bus."
Interesting meme (and logical fallacy)
Mobile phones = distraction = lack of awareness of surroundings
drugs/alcohol = distorted awareness of surroundings
failure to be aware of surroundings = risk of accident
=> mobile phones are like a drug
Let’s list all the things that affect awareness of surroundings (talking to people; thinking; wearing a hoodie; holding an umbrella, carrying stuff) and ban it all!
Or let’s do the stats on number of accidents involving pedestrians relative to number of accidents overall and figure out whether the rate they’re getting injured is on trend, but more of them are using mobile phones because almost everyone has a mobile phone and some of the people that have them also use them.
