The rise of the Phubbers: How China is trying to prevent smartphone-related fatalities: Chinese cities are imposing fines on people using smartphones while crossing the road in an attempt to prevent road accidents, according to the FT. The city of Wenzhou has begun handing out RMB 10 penalties to people caught texting on their phones while walking on the street, while Xian has even started painting designated smartphone lanes on pavements. The new measures show that the authorities have little faith that common sense will prevail among the so-called Phubbers, and have decided to take more coercive action.

And it’s not just pedestrians causing problems: Statistics from 2017 suggest that more than half of all US road accidents involve a driver using a mobile phone. And more recent figures haven’t shown any improvement: Last year, the number of US pedestrians killed in road accidents rose to its highest level in almost three decades, preliminary government data showed last week. Smartphones were identified as one of the main culprits behind the rising figures.

Phubber? Why the hate, man? Phubber is just one of a few pejorative terms used to describe people whose eyes are more often than not locked onto their phone screens. You may also use “smombie” (a lazy neologism of smartphone zombie), or if you’re in Hong Kong you can refer to them as members of the “head-down tribe.”