RENO, Nev. (AP) - Campus police are teaming up with students at the University of Nevada, Reno to use red paint and bull horns to alert distracted pedestrians to get off their cell phones and pay attention when crossing the street.
University Police Services and the Associated Students of the University of Nevada say they’ll kick off a new safety campaign Monday by painting red safety zones at crosswalks on Virginia Street from 10th to 15th streets.
White lettering in the zones will say: “Be safe! Look up from your phone in this zone.”
In addition to the crosswalk painting, campus police and student volunteers will be using bull horns to call out distracted pedestrians and encourage them to pay attention.
University Police Chief Todd Renwick says many people tend to blame drivers in vehicle-pedestrian accidents but pedestrian safety is a shared responsibility.
Renwick says getting students to look up from their phones while walking across campus is a real challenge. He says they need a warning that’s “literally in their face.”
He says the hope is if they’ll get the message when they see the sidewalk change color to red if they are looking down at their device.
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