Take action against distraction

Distracted drivers are the real zombie apocalypse. Mobile Mayhem now showing on a street near you.

You know the signs:

• Driver’s eyes cast downward

• Vehicle slants away from its lane

• Vehicle turns without signaling

• Vehicle sits well past red light turning green

It’s enough to turn the good drivers into nervous wrecks.

Pedestrians? They become sitting ducks — distracted driver zombie bait.

Our recent story about Post Falls police using their chaplain to venture across busy streets in crosswalks helped quantify the problem.

“It’s been very eye-opening,” said Jon DeKeles after he’d survived — barely, it seems — crossing the streets dozens of times July 28 as part of what police call crosswalk emphasis patrols. “A lot of people are either distracted or they just don’t know the crosswalks are there.”

They don’t know the crosswalks are there because they’re distracted. How can you miss seeing a crosswalk if you’re paying even the slightest bit of attention?

DeKeles documented which motorists were talking on the phone, texting or simply refusing to stop when he was in the crosswalk. At Poleline and Idaho he crossed 90 times. He witnessed 23 violators. That’s 23 times, at least, that something very bad could easily have happened.

We attribute the fact that few vehicle-pedestrian accidents actually happen to pedestrian vigilance, rather than driver alertness. The formula for happy endings has become even more muddled recently, though, by Pokemon Go players who are doing outstanding ambulatory zombie imitations. Because of that game’s success, we can expect more app adventures of a similarly dangerous nature.

So what do we do about it? If we were disciplined and all agreed to turn off our cellphones when we’re driving, the apocalypse would be instantly put to everlasting rest. But knowing that isn’t the case, our recommendation is twofold.

One, pedestrians should assume any approaching drivers will be distracted and cross streets at their own risk. Make sure you have plenty of time to get across, and if you see a zombie driver headed your way with eyes cast downward, hustle immediately to the closest corner.

The other recommendation is all about enforcement. While we appreciate the educational approach involved with warnings, we doubt that will make a lasting impact. If they can find enough staff like Mr. DeKeles, law enforcers would be doing the citizenry a great service by documenting distracted drivers in crosswalks and ticketing them until it hurts.