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Cape Town - A safety video has demonstrated the dangers of distraction that cellphones pose to pedestrians.
The online video from Switzerland depicts a pedestrian walking while engrossed with his cellphone.
As the voice-over artist describes the scene, the young man is violently knocked by a car he didn't see coming. A woman screams in trauma at the accident.
Experts have long been concerned at the injuries suffered by pedestrians who are distracted.
According to a 2010 publication by Ohio State University, more than 1 500 people were treated for injuries sustained while walking and engrossed in cellphone applications.
Violent campaigns
Officials in Chongqing, China, opened a so-called cellphone lane in 2014, as a way to draw attention to how inattentive pedestrians place themselves at risk.
University of Iowa researchers are experimenting with a cellphone warning system. An approaching car would automatically send a signal to a mobile phone user to warn them of the vehicle's approach.
But that programme faces practical challenges.
"If a warning is sent every time a car passes by, people will soon ignore them. In addition, you don't want pedestrians to get a warning at a critical moment and be distracted from looking at the traffic," said Jodie Plumert, co-principal investigator and professor of psychology.
Graphically violent drinking and driving advertising campaigns have sought to use shock to change people's behaviour, and the jury remains divided as to what strategy might convince people to avoid using their cellphones in dangerous situations.
Watch the video here. Warning: The scene of the accident may offend some viewers.
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