"smombies" zombies on smartphones

How our obsession with phones is having a detrimental effect on a vulnerable group of people
MOBILE phones are already having an impact on society but it’s starting to hurt a large group of vulnerable people — and we’re all responsible.

WHETHER Rikki Chaplin is walking in Sydney or Melbourne, there’s one thing he can always count on — people never getting out of his way.
The advocacy officer for Blind Citizens Australia has been blind since birth and has plenty of horror stories about walking through our bustling cities.
A study by Guide Dogs Australia found that more than a third of people using a white cane were bumped into every time they walked out the front door while 60 per cent of those doing the bumping were engrossed in their mobile phone.
Almost half of all white cane users had also been knocked over, injured or had their cane broken by someone walking into them in the past two years, the study said.
“There’s always people on me. Some refuse to move out of the way and a lot of them even just try and jump over my cane,” Mr Chaplin told news.com.au.

more at link:

http://www.news.com.au/technology/gadgets/mobile-phones/how-our-obsession-with-phones-is-having-a-detrimental-effect-on-a-vulnerable-group-of-people/news-story/98051e9d9cbff9d9cdc7603a9ec0ec4b

I don't like using my phone in public unless I'm sitting down somewhere. Even then, I'd rather keep my eyes on my surroundings. At home I might step on a cat or dog, so I sit on the couch. Heads up people!!