Thai varsity gets country's first 'mobile phone lane'

A university in Thailand has launched the country's first "mobile phone lane" to help the speeding students avoid getting bumped into smartphone users on their way to class, a media report said today.
Bangkok's Kasetsart University divided the 500-metre footpath into two lanes to separate phone users from non-users.
The initiative, proposed by the varsity's students and sponsored by Toyota Thailand, has been implemented on a trial basis until November 15.
The results of the initiative will be assessed by the Performance Management Strategies team to compare the numbers from before and after the dual-lane footpath was implemented.
During the morning rush-hour period, many students are in a hurry to attend classes and their path is blocked by others who text and talk on their cellphones, said Natdanai Adisornpunkul, a third-year marketing major at KU's Business Administration Faculty.

Rushing students resort to walking on the road to get to where they are going, which is dangerous, he was quoted as saying by 'The Nation'.

Natdanai's group came up with the 'mobile phone lane' after brainstorming and researching for solutions on the Internet.
"We need to promote this scheme, which was only set up on Sunday, because many people are still unaware of it," he said, adding that they would spend a week to observe people's feedback.
"As people nowadays spend so much time looking at their mobile phone screens, they could get hurt if they are unaware of their surroundings. This project will help to boost public safety, while encouraging people to adhere to traffic regulations," Natdanai added.

Last September, China's Chongqing City made headlines with a light-hearted plan to set up a mobile phone lane for pedestrians on the footpath of a short section of the downtown road for people with smartphones.
The initiative was apparently inspired by a US model in which a similar dual-lane arrangement was created in Washington in last July as part of a televised behavioural experiment.