New York City's DOT recently launched a pilot program to make city streets safer for those texting while walking. Well not really. But for some trusting New Yorkers, “Seeing Eye People” is a service worth utilizing.
"New York City-based prank collective Improv Everywhere recently pulled off a stunt where they posed as city workers providing a solution to the texting and walking epidemic in the city," writes Emma Hutchings. "Half of their team of sixty put on orange vests and became 'Seeing Eye People' who claimed to be part of a Department of Transportation pilot program."
"The other half walked along texting while attached to the Seeing Eye People by leashes. They were helped across the street without needing to take their eyes off their phones."
Check out the videos below to see the results, and make sure to watch the second to see which New Yorkers embraced the service.
FULL STORY: HELPERS GUIDE TEXTERS THROUGH CITY STREETS
New York to Consider Fines for Distracted Walking
A state senator in New York thinks one way to lower the number of pedestrians killed every year is to penalize people who cross the street while looking at their phone.
Distracted Walking: Finally, Some Hard Data
It's serious, and the data is surprising. You need not be a pedestrian to experience injury while walking using your cell phone: half of all injuries occurred in the home. Two thirds of all walking-using-cell phone injuries were females.
Against Victim Blaming
One common scapegoat for rising pedestrian death rates is "distracted walking." But there is little reason to believe that smartphone-wielding pedestrians are a major cause of roadway carnage.
The Complexities of the '15-Minute City'
What does a '15-minute city' truly mean–and how achievable is it in the U.S.?
Does Highway Removal Make Cities Healthier?
Highway removal can improve the air quality and health of the immediate environment, but displacement and gentrification threaten to exclude former residents from the benefits.
Tree Equity Score: The U.S. Needs 522 Million More Urban Trees
As climate change intensifies the urban heat island effect, poorer neighborhoods bear the brunt of tree canopy inequity.
National Development Council (NDC)
Solomon Cordwell Buenz
County of Sonoma
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Salinas
Village of Park Forest
Mid Valley Partners
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