MULBERRY, Fla. — Zombies are all around us. Not the walking dead but the ones walking around with their head buried in their smartphone.
The City of Mulberry is putting up two dozen of signs that read “Beware of Smartphone Zombies.”
“If we could just get someone’s attention, we could save one tragedy somewhere,” said Mulberry City Manager Rick Johnson.
The signs are meant to grab the attention of drivers, to be on the lookout for people crossing the street with their heads down and looking at their phones.
“Not paying attention to where they’re going, not paying attention to traffic. Sometimes they’ll just step off the curb into traffic,” Johnson said.
The city is installing most of the signs near schools and libraries where students are often seen walking distracted.
“By the schools, we see a lot of it because the kids aren’t looking at their phones all day, so when they get released from school, they just can’t wait to get back on the phones and get back in touch with their friends,” said Johnson.
About 127 pedestrians are killed on Polk County streets each year, according to the Polk Transportation Planning Organization.
“We are ranked as one of the top areas in the country with serious bike and pedestrian injuries,” said Parag Agrawal, executive director of Polk Transportation Planning Organization.
Agrawal said one of the key components to improving roadway safety is educating drivers and pedestrians to modify their behavior to reduce risks.
“We are working very closely with Polk County Public Schools and Polk Vision on a bike and pedestrian safety education program for our school kids,” Agrawal said.
The new curriculum will be launched in the Fall. Along with the zombie signs, officials hope to encourage a culture of safety.
The idea for the zombie signs came to Mulberry’s City Manager after seeing a meme on social media.
