Are you a “Smombie”?

Or do you suffer from Nomophobia?

Maybe it’s time to have a break this Christmas.

A smombie is a walking person using a smart or mobile phone, and not paying attention as they walk. Seven out of ten young adults aged up to 24 admit using their mobile phones while walking, although three in ten of those aged 55 and over admit doing it as well.

Motorists have to swerve, slam on brakes or sound their horns. Nick Freeman, a UK celebrity lawyer specialising in traffic and speeding offences, nicknamed “Mr Loophole” by the British tabloid press, has called for laws to be introduced to criminalise pedestrians who cause a serious accident while on their phones.

A survey by the UK Sunday Times in February 2016 found that more than one in four people have risked hurting themselves or others by using phones as they walk around busy shopping areas. The survey observed that 15% of shoppers crossing the extremely busy London Great Portland Street were looking at their phones as they did so. You can observe the same behaviour every working day at crossings along St George’s Terrace.

In early 2016, a statue outside Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire, UK was moved because pedestrians looking at their phones kept walking into it. In October 2013 in Japan a 47-year-old man wandered onto a railroad crossing while engrossed by his phone. He was hit and killed by a train.

In Antwerp, Belgium and Chongqing, China white lines have been painted on streets to create ‘smombie lanes’ where pedestrians can walk while texting or looking at mobiles without irritating others.

And what’s Nomophobia?

It is the fear of being without your phone: no-mo(bile)(phone)phobia. The “I-must-have-my-phone-with-me-at-all-times” mindset that causes a rush of anxiety and fear when you realise you are disconnected or out of the loop with friends, family, work and the world. People are not addicted to phones themselves but the “checking habits” that develop with phone use. According to medical definitions, needing “anything” in order to feel at ease or normal is technically a disability.

So, maybe this Christmas take some moments to have a break from your phone.

And, have a safe and peaceful Christmas.

December 2016