Hong Kong is working on upgrading traffic lights to automatically shine on distracted texters crossing roads. Texting while crossing roads may not be a leading cause of death but it remains dangerous.

Smartphones cause distractions and even the most careful of us have cut ourselves checking notifications in public. Then, there are the not-so-careful of us who text while on the road.

Texting while driving is a punishable offense in many countries but it is a bit harder to place such laws on pedestrians. So, Hong Kong believes that it is more effective to ‘shine the light on them’, in the literal sense.

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The country us first testing the technology in four busy intersections for six months. Traffic lights are fitted with LED lamps that project a bright red light downward, on curbs on either side of a crosswalk, when the ‘Don’t Walk’ comes on.

The idea is that, while texting may not let you look up to see the signals on the road you are walking into, the downward projecting lights may alert you.

However, the problem with this approach is that serial texters may become accustomed to the red lights soon and learn to ignore it. Another one, which Gizmodo pointed out, is that it only caters for people crossing at crosswalks and not for those who just step out on the curb at any point.

Regardless, it is still a good idea and at least takes care of some parts of the problem. What do you think?

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