Short answer: “eyes glued to iPhone”, however distractions of any kind existed before the smartphone from people blasting loud music with headphones via a walkman, putting the radio at max volume, having either a book or newspaper obstructing one’s view. You get the point, I once heard an incident involving a woman almost getting ran over by a street car in Turkey all because she’s glued to the phone screen whilst walking.
My mind is busy with something like: “don’t be too much”, “don’t look too excited”, “walk paying attention to your movements”, “relax your muscles because the anxiety is showing”, “don’t mind the looks”, “are you ignoring some bodily need?”, “are you sure you got the right directions?”, “do you have everything with you?”, “haven’t you left something somewhere?”, “what are you going to eat later?”, “when do you need to pay the card?”, “how much do you have left in that card?”, “maybe you shouldn’t have bought…”, “although it’s useful because…”…
I cannot focus on anything else. I try, but I know I could do better.
There are so many people, so many fucking people in my office that will stop in the middle of a thoroughfare to chat with someone, see you coming and not move an inch. I don’t understand how so many people be so fucking obnoxious.
My pet peeve is stores. I come around with my cart. See a lady. She sees me. I stop to let her pass. She stops just before there would be enough room for me to get past.
Maybe I’m jus becoming an old grumpy man, but teens these days seem completely oblivious to their surroundings. More so than I ever remember. For sure, not every teenager, but the ones I see standing cluelessly in front of busy exits, don’t understand how to stand in line, how to pass gates in airports, how to be less obnoxious… are so often teenagers these days. Probably better that way as we completely fucked their future.
How did they get an entire car inside of a turkey?
Out of curiosity I searched around for the amount of people killed by buses over time, the classic not-paying-attention death, and it seems like the number has been fairly stable since 2000.
My hypothesis was that if people were getting less good at paying attention that number should rise. One factor I couldn’t control for is people becoming more aware of being hit by a bus and being more alert in that specific situation. That would also explain the stability of the number as the population has risen quite a bit since 2000 but the bus fatality rate has remained the same, which might imply the bus death per 100,000 would actually be going down. I also didn’t look at the rate of injury, so safety technology could be shifting more fatalities to non-fatal injuries.
Either way the bus data does not suggest that people are paying more or less attention than they always have. Further research is required as the results were inconclusive.
Interesting, but yes I.'d think (hope) each bus death. or injury changes the driver and bus operating organisation, and municipality in some way. Even if it was the pedestrians ‘fault’, the bus can probably do things to reduce the risk.
This research should ideally start with a random/representative sample of people exposed to a measurable level of bus death risk.
Today? Sure.
Yesterday? Yep.
They probably complained about people being distracted by using the abacus or whatever way back in the day.
Yes. Situational awareness is generally shit, even when not glued to a phone.
How can I pay attention to my surroundings when I’m so busy thinking of some embarrassing thing from 15 years ago that absolutely no one remembers or even cares about except for me?
I oftentimes see elementary school kids crossing the street while looking down at iPhones with headphones on. And driving I oftentimes have to honk at others because they’re glued to their phones too.
I remember when smartphones were still new-ish people were doing the same but there were big campaigns about distracted driving; now most cars have Android Auto and CarPlay but people still refuse to put down the motherfucking phone.
The other day I was driving down a single-lane road and there was a guy literally standing motionless in the middle of the road looking at his phone.
I got right up behind him without him noticing (earphones in) and then blasted the horn.
I think it made quite an impression on him.
