I was walking in town the other day, and as I approached a pedestrian crossing, an elderly lady just in front of me, I would say in her early sixties, just walked out into the path of an approaching car. I automatically put my arm out just in time to stop her. She was only about a foot from being hit.
I don’t know about you, but that would have shaken me up. The fact that I had nearly been hit by a car and not realised it. Her reaction worried me the most. She just gave me a look as though to say “what do you want” and realising what she had done, gave a laugh at me and across the road to her husband and friend, before looking straight back at her phone!
As I drive round all day, this is far from a rare incident. The BBC the other day were saying how being online was leaving children open to danger. However, I would suggest that not looking at the road they are crossing because they are so busy looking at their phones or listening to music with headphones on, is much more of an everyday risk.
Almost without exception, when I take a pupil into town for the first time, they are shocked at how bad people are at not looking before they step out. They all say how it makes them think twice when walking in town themselves.
Be safe. Extra care when you can see someone on their phone or listening to music.