In 2015, pedestrian fatalities on NSW roads increased 49 per cent. This year, 29 pedestrians have died already. Why? According to Roads Minister Duncan Gay, it's because we can't stop looking at our phones while we walk.
Now, in order to help combat our petextrian tendencies, the NSW Government is launching a $250,000 trial of in-ground traffic lights to catch the attention of erstwhile Instagram users on the city streets. If you can't get people to look up, just put the lights on the pavement instead, goes the thinking.
The trial is slated to commence in December, across five key CBD intersections (which ones exactly are still TBC). This move comes after a similar program was introduced in the city of Augsburg, Germany.