Have we forgotten how to be aware of our surroundings?

[canetoad]

Brought on by a post by Alp227 about a young woman who killed a child, texting while driving.

Recently, here in Melbourne, a 14 year old girl was hit by a train. She was still wearing her iPod earphones when they picked her body up. In a similar event, four or five years ago a teenage girl crossing train tracks, wearing earpods was killed. A 22 year old woman ran into and killed a cyclist, on a straight and open road. She was texting as she drove.

These are just the cases that come to mind in my home city. I can't bear to think what the toll is across Australia, the USA or the world. The common denominator in these cases is the combination of youth and technology.

Then I think about various incidents in the course of a week; the toddler who runs headlong into a senior at the shops, the shopper skinning your heels with their trolley because they are not looking where they are going. The near misses with a phone-using driver. If these folk lived 5,000 years ago, they would be certain candidates for early death by bear or falling off a cliff. I just can't get over how totally unaware of their surroundings, their situation and the people near them that some folks are.

Don't laugh this off as Darwin Awards material; it doesn't apply to the victims of unawares and the two girls killed by trains were good students, young, vibrant and well liked. I want to know what the payoff is for isolating yourself from what's going on around you.

Pre-empting the accusations of Ludditism, I am certainly not a technophobe - except when it gets you killed. I really want to know what can be done to encourage awareness of surroundings. We were not born with the 'fight or flight' response for nothing. Why is is being bred out of our young people?

An anecdote to close: I walk a few kilometres of beautiful, wild riverbank each day, with my dogs. Recently they ran up to greet a young woman, only soul I'd seen that day. Her face twisted in anguish, phone held tightly to her ear. 'Take them away,' she demanded. 'Can't you see I'm having a difficult conversation?'

[HipChick]

1. It's not just youth...we had a profressor killed in DC...he was too busy texting as he walked

across the road...got hit by car

[canetoad]

5. Goes against all the rules

We were taught as kids. Look left, look right, look left again. (Reverse for countries that drive on the left)

I sort of understand the need to live for the moment but it's not impossible to project yourself five or ten seconds into the future and anticipate the consequences.

[HipChick]

8. It could be stress...I've been in two near misses last couple of weeks

My fault..lack of sleep, and jet-legged...and I'm a extremely careful driver

[canetoad]

10. Can relate to that

But at least you know, you are AWARE of the triggers for your lapses in concentration.

[Fumesucker]

2. My brother was damn near killed by a car right in front of my eyes..

He ran out across the street, never seeing the car that was coming and got hit, it took three months in the hospital and nearly six more before he could walk again.

That was 1958, transistor radios were the latest thing and we didn't have one.

[Fumesucker]

3. On another level, improving technology will reduce the need for direct attention to the device.

Apple's new software thingy will allow you to speak and it writes you message for you..

I'm pretty sure it will read messages to you also.

[canetoad]

7. I'm not sure that is the solution I'm grasping for...

Studies of mobile phone use while driving indicate it's not the act of holding a phone to your ear that causes accidents, rather it's being distracted by involvement in a conversation.

My call is that Siri and similar apps only add to the distraction.

[Fumesucker]

27. Not to be argumentative ..

But practically all race drivers and even race bikers have radios on board and communicate with the pit crew.

If an external voice was so distracting you'd think that in a race situation they wouldn't want the added danger.

:shrug:

[saras]

31. That's because they're RACE CAR DRIVERS.

Stupid race car drivers die. Fast.

Stupid drivers are legion. If we banned them, our economy would fail.

[Fumesucker]

32. People die doing all sorts of things, mountain climbing, scuba diving, hang gliding..

Your argument doesn't make much sense.

FWIW I did a little racing in my younger days, on a motorcycle in fact..

:hi:

[snagglepuss]

4. I cycle in city traffic and I constantly see other cyclists and pedestrians

neither of which are using devices oblivious to their surroundings. People step or cycle into intersectins without checking to seeing if there are turning cars and trucks. This is not to say that devices aren't a big issue but I think this obliviousness isn't about devices. It seesm to me that it is an attitude that expects other people to exert effort.

[canetoad]

6. Yeah, I'm sure there's an element of that

Someone else is responsible therefore I'm untouchable.

It's a kind of bravado, challenging the world to hurt you because you are legally in the right, as in crossing the road etc. Trouble is, it only takes a couple of seconds to mangle and break a body and it's too late to be in the right at the inquest.

[handmade34]

9. Yes

we are quickly losing our wonderment of our connection to the world around us... It takes much effort for many people today as we have become busier, oriented towards material things and disconnected from nature... I noted you "walk a few kilometres of beautiful, wild riverbank each day". Not many people have that luxury anymore and it is very sad.

I am in Northern Vermont tonight and I can walk out my back door and see thousands of stars in the sky and the only sound is the deep silence and an occasional rustle of some creature in the woods... I cherish the nights here. This weekend I will be back at work in Yonkers and then on to Philadelphia... it takes considerable effort to maintain awareness once I get to the city...

[canetoad]

12. I hear you

Cities have good points too, much to see, hear and smell.

Early, each Saturday morning, I meet a friend and her dog and we do the walk together. This subject came up last week; how many years we walk the same few kms but there is always something new to see, to learn. Never boring or over-familiar.

In contrast, I've walked with a few people who prattle on about reality TV and shopping and only notice if a tree has fallen over the track!

[DRoseDARs]

11. So you're offended that the woman was upset that your dogs were disturbing her at a private moment?

Learning about a death, relationship falling apart, some other form of bad news... and you're taking exception that she doesn't want the interruption at that particular moment in time? I don't understand the point of your anecdote. I don't think it presents what you think it presents. It's one thing to offer Person-to-Person support in the flesh, but it's wholly another to get judgmental when you get turned down.

As for your larger point, I agree that people are getting worse about paying attention to things outside their personal space, regardless of what it is that captivates them so. However, small children can't be included in that because they quite literally HAVE no situational awareness. Their world view is severely limited, so it's up to the parents to be aware for them. They aren't born knowing anything is dangerous.

[canetoad]

13. Must admit to laughing quietly at

The first para of your post. No one has a lifetime guarantee of freedom from pesky little interruptions. It's all about facing them with grace and dignity. And, how the fuck did my cheerful little dogs know she was having a 'difficult conversation'.

You missed the entire point, instead homing in on the supposed hurt feelings of someone your have never met. She was in one of the most beautiful places in the State. Surrounded by insects, plants, water, stones, birds and trees - and she brought her petty misery with her.

[DRoseDARs]

15. Or, her "petty misery" found her there...

She could have had her phone on her no different than having a wallet on her or a locket. She could have come to the park to find solace from a difficult situation when it tracked her down again. Perhaps she was awaiting word on whether something bad had gotten better or gotten worse.

But you judge her anyway. Her business is not yours if she doesn't wish it to be. She was distraught, your dogs were making it worse, who are you to question her motivations?

[canetoad]

16. That's a fine soap opera

You've written there. She could have been an alien wanting to suck my dogs brains.

Isn't it time you got out, enjoyed a bit of nature and stopped obsessing over something over which you have no control? I tracked a kangaroo this morning. What did you do?

[DRoseDARs]

21. Gave a ride for a friend, cleaned a lockerroom, hosed down a pool deck, vac/mopped floor, wiped equi

...pment, provided a clean gym for another day to members who have often complimented and thanked me for my hard work. I was happy to do it and I did it all without looking down my nose at them. What non-judgmental, non-self-important thing did YOU do today for others?

[canetoad]

24. It seems life has been unfair to you

And I'm genuinely sorry that your efforts and talents seem to go unrecognised. Sometimes it's good to let go the drama of humanity and just enjoy the simple things.

[DRoseDARs]

26. "who have often complimented and thanked me for my hard work"

>_<'

I don't accept tips (I've politely turned them down), I've turned down gas money too, I have a job offer (from a member, no less) that's double-pay over current wage/full-time/benefits and we're just waiting on the current guy to put in his two weeks notice.

I enjoy simple things: I enjoy helping others. Without judging them.

[canetoad]

28. I'm not your enemy

Hope things get better.

[DRoseDARs]

30. I accept your sincerity, but you should understand that to me you came off as aloft.

At a few points in typing, I was ready to unload but thought better of it, again because I believe you are sincere. However, you made assumptions that were unfair to that woman (assuming it wasn't all one big hypothetical) and that rubbed me the wrong way. Any other day, she might've be ecstatic to have to friendly dogs run up to greet her, but evidently that was not one of those days.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

14. nobody looks up at the sky either, it seems.

I live in the country and I thought that people who were farmers or gardeners might notice the days getting longer or shorter, or notice the constellations.

A woman across the street who came over and handed out halloween candy with us, I looked up and said "Is that Jupiter?" to dearhubby. I told her that was Jupiter, it was a planet, not a star.
I said that was a planet because it was brighter than a star and didn't twinkle.

She said she never noticed.

:wtf:

A 40 year old woman told me she had never seen the moon in the daytime. I explained to her how the moon falls 50 minutes behind the sun.

:wtf:

Don't they teach the kids in junior high science, or elementary school science, about this? About the moon going around the earth and the earth going around the sun? And the other planets?

[canetoad]

19. I'm sure they still teach it

But that's a lot different to nourishing a need to go and watch it for yourself. Watch, note differences, anomalies - you know, observe!

I love hearing from skywatchers; my main love is the surface of the earth and knowledge of the skies is deficient. Only know the main constellations and stars. Managed to get good pix of the total solar eclipe of '75 using a Russian SLR and homemade filter.

[moondust]

17. Yes.

I now drive extra defensively because so many people are distracted by phones and gadgets to the point that I no longer trust them to quickly recover should they start to veer out of control. Shopping in stores and about in crowds I'm constantly dodging people on phones and otherwise seemingly oblivious to what is going on around them.

Be careful out there! :)

[RainDog]

18. MAKE ELECTRONICS ILLEGAL!!!!!!!

that's the logic behind cannabis prohibition for some around here....

[canetoad]

22. Man, I stared at that topic, having a brain fart

Convinced you had said something insanely profound. 'Make electrons illegal'.

And almost agreeing....:hi:

[Safetykitten]

20. We will be heralding the new iHelmet. Your own private world, as you pass through.

Maybe they can have an app... TRAIN!

[jberryhill]

23. Or.. Build more sensors into the phones...

...and program a collision avoidance system that will do things like watch the road, look out for crossing trains or traffic, etc.

Put digital image coupon codes on trolleys, trains and buses, so that smartphone users will look for them and earn points toward an upgrade for each one they capture. Then, they'll always be looking for stuff like that.

[canetoad]

25. I like your thinking

I'm pretty handy with google, so could learn how to make apps. Wanna go into partnership?

[jberryhill]

29. Yeah, there's a reason I got out of engineering

But, seriously, the story here reduces to:

New technology heightens previously tolerated inherent hazards of old technology.

It's an problem which is the consequence of the hazards of the older technology.

The tip-off here is the line about what would happen 5,000 years ago to these people. 5,000 years ago, they wouldn't get hit by trains or cars, and they wouldn't be driving. Those things are themselves entirely technological.

So, cars swerving out of lanes or not stopping... Well, high end cars are starting to come with collision avoidance systems which intervene to brake the car to avoid low speed collisions. Next up - lane detection, automated steering, maybe with some help from simple road enhancements (RFID baked in), network-integrated vehicles that connect with traffic management systems, and so on...

In a lot of places, things like grade crossings have become scarce. Why? Because they are too dangerous. It eventually made sense to go ahead and build overpasses.

Teen tip: if your teenager drives, consider getting them a manual transmission. First, they will learn a valuable and rewarding skill. Second, they can't text or phone while driving a stick

[canetoad]

33. The 5,000 year thing

Was a rhetorical question. Would the unaware people of today be a self-extinguishing genre in bronze or neolithic ages. Would they be the ones who stumbled into animal lairs, fell off cliffs during a hunt or ate the purple berries?

Yes, most obvious urban danger spots are being eliminated but recently in country Vic. a truck hit a passenger train at a remote level crossing. The truck driver was absolved.

Advances to cars are possible. I wait until the first high profile case of an insurance company defending a liability claim against a family of 5 dying in a fiery crash with a vehicle relying on autopilot.

[jberryhill]

36. They said the same thing about airbags

Yes, there are cliffs and hungry animals, but the difference between the natural environment and the technological environment is that one is the result of deliberate decisions about tolerable risk.

[Fumesucker]

34. LOL.. You think people can't text or phone driving a stick?

I agree with teaching a kid to drive a stick but most of them can text one handed without looking, the only time they couldn't text is when they were actually changing gears.

Back when I had a cell I got to the point I could text one handed without looking other than occasionally.

[jberryhill]

35. Eventually, maybe

But my experience (sample space of two) is that they develop the habit of pulling over, before they reach the level of driving a stick, texting, and drinking a coffee while shaving.

[Gregorian]

37. I didn't even read the post before I thought of this-

I found out that the old white haired man who rides his bike every day had just been killed by a kid driving down the edge of the road here. I wondered just how anyone could not see a cyclist. My first thought was how out of touch people are. Not only the driver, but the cyclists. For years I've wondered why that guy would ever ride in a place like that. I ride thousands of miles a year. But I got off the road in the mid 70's. No way I was going to let some dingbat in a car kill me. I've had very close calls. On purpose or not, I'll never kknow.

So now I find out that man was 82 years old.

I can't type enough word right now to explain my thoughts. I've spent a lifetime on bikes, and a lifetime suffering over the proliferation of the automobile. It's a different subject, or is it? The car destroyed this society. Every facet of it. Our health, our understanding and appreciation of nature, the growth of bad corporations.... I could write a book here. I've got to start my day.

[ecstatic]

38. That's assuming we're in control of our time of death nt