Pavement lights have been installed at a pedestrian crossing in a Netherlands town to support smartphone users cross the road safely,the BBC reports.
The light strips are designed to catch the eye of people looking down at their device, and change colour to match traffic signals.
The lure of games and social media has come "at the expense of attention to traffic", or said councillor Kees Oskam.
But Dutch road safety group VVN said the idea "rewards imperfect behaviour".
"It's not a worthy idea to support mobile phone users glimpse at their phones," said Jose de Jong of VVN, the Dutch Traffic Safety organization.[br]
"We don't want people to use phones when they're dealing with traffic, and even when walking around.
"People must always glimpse around them,to check if cars are actually stopping at the red signals."
The lights have been installed on a trial basis at one crossing, close to three schools in Bodegraven.
The company that developed the technology says it hopes to offer the strips to other towns in the future.
Similar pavement lights are being tested in the German city of Augsburg to support so-called "smartphone zombies" navigate level crossings.
Source: tert.am