Drivers are warned about Ipod zombies
UK ROAD RECOVERY SERVICE, the Automobile Association (AA), is warning drivers to be on the look out for ‘zombie’ Ipod users or ‘podestrians’, through its insurance arm.
“‘Ipod oblivion’ – a trance-like or Zombie state entered by some people using MP3 players, phones and electronic organisers on the move – can be lethal for pedestrians, cyclists and car drivers”, it warned when launching an awareness campaign.
These ‘zombies’, the AA said, wander blindly around the roads of the UK, probably listening to Dan Brown audiobooks, Kenny G, or avante-garde funk on their Ipods, with nary a second thought about traffic and other non-cool things like that.
“AA patrols have noted a marked increase in the number of ‘Ipod zombie pedestrians’ and joggers oblivious to traffic around them as they cross busy roads,” it said. “It is thought that pedestrians’ lack of attention may be a factor in some of the 500 pedestrian deaths or 26,887 pedestrian casualties last year.”
Ipods are not the only tool of the devil, and ambulance chasing solicitors and the AA also fingered smartphones and the band Motorhead in its release. “It appears that more people are using communication technology on the move,” it added, pointing its oily finger at email checking business men, heavy metal joggers and smartphone app using, restaurant hunting tourists.
The warnings do not just apply to pavement slugs that mooch into the road with the vacant air of the lobotomised, but also to drivers that wear headphones while in control of a car.
AA president Edmund King said, “We can’t stop the march of technology but we need to halt the ‘Ipod pedestrian, cycle and driver zombies’. Whether on two feet, two wheels or four, too many people are suffering from so-called ‘iPod oblivion’.
“When on the move our brains have much to take in and using technological gadgets means that our brains can’t always concentrate on so many things at once. This is when we walk into traffic, don’t hear the truck or drive cocooned from the outside world.”
The AA will look for the term ‘podestrian’ to catch on, and reports that more drivers making claims for minor shunts are citing ‘podestrians’ or Ipod wearing pedestrians as the cause than ever before.
It is urging people to be more concerned about their personal safety than whatever ear gum is coming next, or whatever foppish Facebook updates their friends might have made. µ
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