According to a report by O2 and Samsung in
Britain, it was found out that distraction from mobile devices like the
smartphones has caused an estimated 20 million passengers to miss their bus or
train stop every year.
It was claimed that this problem has affected 51% of Britons
and causes 15% of commuters to run late for meetings. According to the report,
passengers miss their stops about 29million times.
The report also claim that Londoners are among the most
preoccupied with the mobiles. Three in five of London’s travellers have missed
a stop for this reason. It also revealed that Londoners miss two stops a year
on average because they are using their phones.
It was revealed that 35% of the distractions was from
browsing the web, 28% from emails, 27% from gaming, 15% from making calls while
the other 7% was from watching video clips and TV.
Of those who have missed their stops, one in seven of them
said they failed to catch a bus because they were using their phones, and one
in 20 said they have missed a plane.
The findings were revealed in the mobile life reports. David
Johnson, general manager for devices at O2 in the UK said: “The
increasing depth and sophistication of the entertainment we can get on them
means consumers may need a little extra push to help their day run smoothly.”
2000 people were consulted by OnePoll for the report.
Samsung and O2 carried out this study to see the effect mobile
phones was having in the day to day activities of users. They have also
launched a set of stickers that will indicate a person’s destination on his
chest so that someone could remind him if he got carried away.
This sounds kinda funny. I used to think Nigerians
(especially students) are very distracted with mobile phones but it seems we
have people who are miles ahead of us. It is not uncommon these days to see
people on the street who are rather looking at their phones instead of where
they are going.
It sounds more like carelessness than ‘digital distraction’.
Have you missed a bus stop or flight before because of your mobile phone?
[From Daily Mail]
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20 million people miss their bus/train stop due to ‘digital distraction’