Smartphones and ‘petextrians’

Sir, – In the interests of traffic safety, I suggest that the Irish Road Safety Authority and related agencies explore traffic signals located at ground level, directly in the eyeline of distracted smartphone-gazing pedestrians (or “petextrians” as they are known), similar to systems being experimented with in Germany. Even better, why not leverage bluetooth, wireless and geolocating mobile technology itself and display the traffic signals directly onto the smartphone’s screen as the petextrian approaches a crossing or junction?

If advertisements for Viagra or voting for Donald Trump can be targeted at certain phone users, I am sure the technology is equally up for showing red, amber, or green colours on screen depending on location and detection of nearby moving vehicles (driverless or otherwise). – Yours, etc,

ULTAN Ó BROIN,

Blackrock,

READ SOME MORE

Co Dublin.