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Chinese City Creates a Cell Phone Lane for Walkers
By Bill Powell – 9/17/14 at 10:34 AM
[1] Talk about an accident – or accidents – waiting to
happen: in Chongqing, a sprawling city in central
China, authorities have set up a “cell phone lane.” No,
it's not quite as bad as it sounds: this is not a lane for
[5] drivers with their heads down pecking away on their
phones instead of keeping their eyes on the road. The
Chongqing cell phone lane is on a street heavily
trafficked by pedestrians – a lane where people
focusing on their phones can stroll without running
[10] into anyone NOT holding a phone. They can only run
into each other.
The point of this remains elusive. Is it public safety?
How a dedicated walking lane – for people with their
heads down preoccupied with their phones – makes
[15] anyone safer is a little fuzzy. Maybe the idea was
hatched at one of the cell phone makers competing
frantically for the world's biggest market for handsets,
with Samsung and Apple trying to fend off Huawei,
Lenovo and a host of other domestic competitors. If
[20] you can get people to bump into each other and drop
their phones maybe replacement sales go up?
Chongqing city officials couldn't be reached for an
explanation, and a local journalist contacted by
Newsweek said she had walked on the street over the
[25] weekend and found a lot of cell phone users were
ignoring the demarcated lane. Which brings up the
problem of enforcement. Is the municipality of
Chongqing going to set up a branch of cell phone
police to write tickets to anyone straying into the
[30] wrong lane? Maybe they can be like the religious
police in Saudi Arabia, who roam the streets looking
for women not adorned in full burqa and other such
travesties. (Though presumably cell phone
jaywalkers would not be caned for their offense.)
Available in :http://www.newsweek.com/chinese-citycreates -cell-phone-lane-walkers-271102 Access on: 09/19/2014.
Which of the propositions below shows an idea contained in the text?
