A college came up with a clever way to control students guilty of 'texting and walking'
Utah Valley University is implementing a creative solution to the campus' digital traffic problem - the staircase in the school's new Student and Wellness Center has lanes designated just for texters.
Matt Bambrough, UVU's creative director, designed the staircase lanes, Fusion reports.
The stairs are divided into three lanes labeled with bright green words: "walk," "run," and "text."
"You have 18-24 year olds walking down the hall with smartphones, you're almost bound to run into someone somewhere; it's something we're dealing with in this day and age," Bambrough explained to Fusion.
Students texting and walking simultaneously is a common occurrence on the UVU campus.
"They walk into barriers-chairs on the side of the hallway, or railings," UVU student Robbie Poffenberger told Fusion of his multitasking classmates. "I'm sure they're fairly embarrassed."
The delineated staircase is supposed to be a fun way to draw students' eyes away from their phones.
"We did it to engage the students. It's meant to be there for people to look at and enjoy," Bambrough told Fusion.
UVU's texting lane is not the first attempt to get walkers to look up from their cellphones. In 2014, the television show "Mind Over Masses," created similar lanes on the streets of Washington, DC.