Australia is putting traffic lights in the ground because you're glued to your phone

For the average pedestrian, it's immensely hard to look up from an Instagram scroll when you need to, say, cross a four-lane freeway.

That's why the New South Wales state government is looking to trial ground level traffic lights at key crossings in Sydney, Australia from December. 

Fed up with pedestrians who can't take their eyes off the screen, the government is obliged nevertheless to try and save their lives. It will implement a six month trial of the traffic lights at a cost of A$250,000.

"Pedestrians are less protected in a road crash, and are therefore more likely to be seriously injured or killed. This is why we need to create a road system that keeps them safe, and this includes situations when they may not be paying attention," Centre for Road Safety Executive Director Bernard Carlon told Mashable Australia.

The sites for the new under-foot traffic lights haven't yet been announced, but it's expected they will be installed in five places in Sydney's central business district. 

The initiative was announced as part of the Towards Zero advertising campaign, which aims to highlight the human impact of crashes and road fatalities.

In 2015, 61 pedestrians were killed on NSW roads -- a 49 percent increase from 2014.

"The lights are aimed at pedestrians using mobile phones who are not looking where they are walking," Carlon said. "They will serve as another layer of warning on top of existing lights and signals."

A similar initiative rolled out in Augsburg, Germany in April. The main goal there is to stop phone zombies from walking on train tracks. 

Whatever it takes to help people walk while streaming Lemonade. 

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