Cellphone Distraction Causes Man to Tumble Onto Train Tracks head first - Polidicks

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Flk9ObXzxvM&feature=player_embedded[/media] [quote] It's a moment of shocking obliviousness when a man talking on his cell phone walks right off a a train platform and falls onto the tracks at a train stop in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Luckily for the wobbly walker, no train was coming and he is able to scramble safely out of harm's way and back onto the platform. The entire episode was captured on surveillance video by the Southeast Pennsylvania Transit Authority and released to the Associated Press in an effort to warn the public about the dangers of 'distracted walking.' [img]http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/07/30/article-2181304-144C44FC000005DC-562_306x423.jpg[/img] [img]http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/07/30/article-2181304-144C4919000005DC-7_306x423.jpg[/img] One wrong step: The unidentified man was seemingly oblivious as he walked off the edge of a train platform in Philadelphia and fell onto the tracks [img]http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/07/30/article-2181304-144C6083000005DC-685_634x487.jpg/img] Safe: Fortunately, there was no train coming and the man was able to climb to safety before he was hurt The man is alone in the subway station as he is seen walking along the platform. He veers closer and closer to the edge, apparently without noticing. He casually takes one more step -- only to find there is no platform below his feet -- only to discover too late that there is nothing beneath his foot. Gravity does the rest and the unidentified man tumbles onto the track. Moments later, the camera shows him walking, still looking at his cell phone, on the other side of the platform. Philadelphia officials are drafting a safety campaign that will be aimed in part at pedestrians who are looking at their devices instead of where they're going. [img]http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/07/30/article-2181304-144C5209000005DC-141_634x593.jpg[/img] Up and out: Within moments, the man is seen walking on the platform again -- and back on his cell phone 'One of the messages will certainly be "pick your head up" -- I want to say "nitwit," but I probably shouldn't call them names," said Rina Cutler, deputy mayor for transportation and public utilities. As an April Fool's Day joke with a serious message, Philadelphia officials taped off an "e-lane" for distracted pedestrians on a sidewalk outside downtown office buildings. Some didn't get that it was a joke. 'The sad part is we had people who, once they realized we were going to take the e-lane away, got mad because they thought it was really helpful to not have people get in their way while they were walking and texting,' Ms Cutler said. [/quote] Read more: [url]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2181304/The-shocking-moment-man-talking-cell-phone-walks-right-train-platform-fall-subway-tracks.html#ixzz22PU5vhFB[/url] Another source (Because facepunch hates dailymail): [url]http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2012/07/30/what_to_do_about_protecting_distracted_pedestrians/[/url] Ban cellphones.

Looks like more than his call was dropped.

Can't see why some places want to ban texting and walking. There's already apps that use the camera to still let you type while you can still see what's ahead of you.

that is not head first you have sorely deprived me of my desire to read about the man who tumbled head first onto train tracks due to cellphone distraction

Some would think that everyone has the common sense to avoid using the cellphone near traintracks when it requires your vision, those people are clearly wrong.

"as he takes talking to the cellphone... [I]One step too far."[/I] Really whats up with all the csi miami puns the news make

[QUOTE=lockdown6;37053757]i've seen those in the Paris metro system but only in one station, i assume it would be too costly to do/not worth doing it for all of the stations[/QUOTE] I don't know what kind of trains run on the tracks in the above video, but gates on the platform also requires the train to stop at the exact right place. If it's not an automated train, that suddenly complicates things. Some places also have different types of trains running on the same tracks.

Well, good thing no train ran him over though.

[QUOTE=wickedplayer494;37052181]Can't see why some places want to ban texting and walking. There's already apps that use the camera to still let you type while you can still see what's ahead of you.[/QUOTE] I'm glad we don't have shit laws like this in New Zealand. Yeah, I get that sometimes people end up walking into fountains or bumping into each other because they're texting (or reading a book or looking at the sights or whatever). But people need to take responsibility for their own actions and realise 'hey, maybe if I glance up every few seconds I won't run into something'. If the government ever tries to tell me what I can and can not do whilst walking, I'm out of here.

glad nothing bad happened to the guy, falling onto train tracks is most people's worst nightmare

If I'm texting and walking I always look up every 4 seconds to see my surroundings just in case.