A new Mobile Life report by O2 and Samsung adds another data-point to digital distraction:
An estimated 20 million passengers miss bus or train stops each year because of ‘digital distraction’ from their smartphones, a study suggests.
The problem has affected 51 per cent of Britons and causes 15 per cent of commuters to run late for meetings, according to the findings.
Over the last year, passengers have missed their stops an estimated 29 million times, the report showed.
Londoners were found to be among the most preoccupied by their mobiles.
Three in five of the capital’s Tube, bus and train travellers said they had missed a stop for this reason.
On average, Londoners miss two stops a year because they are using their phones.
Personally, when I lived in England I was unfamiliar enough with the train system, and so I always felt the need to pay attention.
Besides, some of those stations are– for an American and former historian of the Victorian era– pretty damn cool.
