Facebook User So Involved In Phone Walks Right Off Pier

You certainly don’t hear about this every day. As a society, we’re very keyed in to all sorts of technology. Some of us have the world in the palm of our hand, at the swipe of a finger. Having that connection to the world on so many platforms has lead to discussions about how much we rely on technology throughout the day. Some arguments have been made that we as a society aren’t more observant to our surroundings. One tourist in Australia proves this theory right.

In an example that proves just how consuming smartphones are, a Taiwanese tourist managed to walk off a pier and into the sea while sight-seeing in Australia. So what was this tourist doing that had them so distracting? The person in question was checking their Facebook page, of course. Fortunately for the woman, she wound up being fine, but did keep her smartphone clutched throughout the whole event.

This wasn’t any pier that the woman walked off of. The pier was in St. Kilda Melbourne, and it’s a pier that needs a person’s full attention as the entire left side of the pier is open.

According to ABC News, Senior Constable Dean Kelly of Victoria police answered the emergency call from a witness. Eventually, emergency responders got sight of the woman floating from the pier.

Detailing the experience, Kelly said of the woman who managed to walk off the pier:

“She was still out in the water lying on her back in a floating position because she told us later that she couldn’t swim. She still had her mobile phone in her hand and initially she apologized she said, ‘I was checking my Facebook page on the phone and I’ve fallen in’.”

This isn’t the only isolated incident of people being too consumed by their phones. Besides the many people bumping into others on a crowded street due to surfing the web on their phone, there was an American named Bonnie Miller who reportedly fell into an Indiana river as she was using her phone.

Also, if that’s not enough evidence, then the Consumer Product Safety Commission in 2012 should raise a few eyebrows. According to the data, more than 1,150 people in the United States were treated for “distracted walking” accidents.

[Image credit: Serguei Levykin / Shutterstock]