When Lampposts Attack

When British telcos introduced ultra-cheap text messaging, they obviously weren’t considering the health implications. We’re not talking about SMS thumb, RSI or getting beat up because you decided that texting during the movie was not, in fact, incredibly annoying for everybody else in the cinema. We’re talking about lampposts.

Apparently the problem of people stupidly walking into lampposts while texting has become such an epidemic in London that the government there has started wrapping lamp posts in rugby-style thick padding. Ten posts in Brick Lane in East London have been wrapped in the padding, and if all goes well the plan it to add padding to posts in other “danger zones” throughout the city.

According to a study by texting information service, 118118, one in ten Britons have injured themselves while walking and texting in the last 12 months. The problem has become so severe that there’s even talk of painting coloured lines on roads to keep texters out of trouble as they walk and text. [Metro.co.uk via Aus IT]