Traffic lights in the ground for smartphone zombies

Stadtwerke Augsburg has created red LED traffic lights, which are embedded in the road at tram stops to warn those looking at their smartphones that a vehicle is approaching.

The German youth may have coined the word — and voted it as their favorite of 2015 — but Smombies, aka Smartphone Zombies, can be found in cities all over the world. Now, a new form of traffic lights has been invented to prevent the Smombies from hurting themselves and others while navigating the outside world enrapt in their digital lives.

In the German city of Ausburg, red LED traffic lights have been embedded into the pavement at two tram stops, in order to provide warning to those who forget to look up at the traditional eye-level lights. The small lights will flash red to signal an approaching tram. The test scheme is being run by public transport provider Stadtwerke Augsburg.

How else could safety features be adapted to allow for the proliferation of smartphone usage?