2018.6.11纽约时报：西安商场建专用人行道保护“低头族”

For Chinese Pedestrians Glued to Their Phones, a Middle Path Emerges

西安商场建专用人行道保护“低头族”

HONG KONG — So ubiquitous in China are pedestrians glued to their cellphones, they have earned a nickname: the heads-down tribe.

香港——在中国，好多人边走路边看手机，以至于他们获得了一个绰号：低头族。

In their natural habitat, tribe members can be seen texting, watching videos and conducting financial transactions, all while dodging cars, tripping in potholes and jamming up subway station entrances. The World Health Organization calls such behavior “distracted walking,” and it is a growing health concern in China, where pedestrian deaths make up a significant number of traffic-related fatalities.

在低头族的地盘，可以看到他们一边收发短信、看视频、转账收钱，一边躲避汽车、被坑洞磕绊、堵住地铁入口。世界卫生组织(World Health Organization)将该行为称为“走路分心”，这在中国也成为了越来越大的健康隐患。在与交通事故有关的死亡中，行人占据了很大部分。

This spring, the managers of a giant shopping mall in Xi’an, a city in the northwest province of Shaanxi, implemented a novel strategy to protect members of the tribe: pedestrian lanes specifically for cellphone users.

今年春季，西北省份陕西省西安市一家大型购物中心的管理人员实施了一项新措施来保护低头一族：为使用手机者设置行人专用道。

Colorfully painted paths outside the Bairui Plaza shopping mall have been designated for walkers who cannot be bothered to look up from their devices.

百瑞未来城外面色彩鲜艳的通道，便是给那些不愿从电子设备上抬头的行人准备的。

“We are not actually advocating for pedestrians to look at their phones,” said Cao Hanjia, the mall’s spokeswoman. “But we can’t regulate people’s activities and tell them, ‘You’re not allowed to look at your cellphone while walking.’”

“其实我们自己本身也是不提倡做低头族的，”商场发言人曹菡嘉说，“但是我们不可能去禁止低头族的活动空间，甚至去说你走在路上不许看手机啥的。”

Instead, messages painted along the lane cheekily cajole walkers to look up and pay attention.

相反，通道上涂写的信息公然地诱导着行人抬头、小心。

“Please don’t look down for the rest of your life,” one message reads. “Path for the special use of the heads-down tribe,” another says snarkily.

“请不要对你的人生低头，”一句写道。“手机低头族专用通道，”另一句挖苦地写道。

Though the mall’s owners have taken a tongue-in-cheek attitude toward distracted walking, the dangers are serious.

尽管商场方面采取了一种半开玩笑的态度对待走路不专心这件事，但危险却是实实在在的。

The World Health Organization estimates that around 68,000 pedestrians are killed every year in China. That is more than a quarter of the 260,000 people killed annually in road accidents.

世卫组织估计，中国每年约有6.8万行人死亡。这占每年交通事故死亡人数——26万人——的四分之一强。

Xi’an is not the first city to experiment with special areas for mobile phone use. In 2014, a street in the southwestern city of Chongqing was divided into two sections. On one side, phone use was prohibited, and on the other walkers were allowed to use their phones “at your own risk.”

西安并非第一个尝试开设使用手机专用区域的城市。2014年，西南部城市重庆的一条街道也被划分为了两个区域。一个区域禁止使用手机，而在另一边，人们则可以“风险自担”地使用手机。

The German city of Augsburg in 2016 embedded traffic lights on the surface of the street to prevent texting pedestrians from walking into traffic.

2016年，德国城市奥格斯堡在街道路面嵌入了交通信号灯，以防止发短信的行人走进车流。

Unlike distracted walking, distracted driving is banned in China. Drivers caught on their phones can be fined 200 yuan, about $31 dollars, and be penalized with points on their drivers license.

和分心步行不同，分心驾驶在中国是被禁止的。被发现打电话的司机会被处以200元罚款，而且会被扣分。