Japanese city aims to ban mobile phone for pedestrians

Pedestrians with phones may be a common sight the world over but Japan's Yamato city has submitted a bill to authorities to prevent people from using mobile phones while walking.

City officials say the move has been made after the number of accidents had increased due to the use of smartphones.

The ban may come into effect next month with officials insisting that they will set up an awareness campaign to warn citizens about the dangers of being on call while walking the streets.

The bill if passed will be the first in Japan.

According to a US survey, 1.6 million car crashes occur per year in the country with 25 per cent accidents being caused due to texting and driving.

The World Health Organisation(WHO) had estimated that mobile use makes accidents four times more likely. In Australia, authorities have estimated that 9 per cent of fatal car crashes were caused by distracted drivers which including mobile phone users.

According to the Harvard center for risk analysis, 330,000 injuries per year caused due to texting while driving cars.