How Technology Can De-Skill Us

There's a road junction just around the corner from my house, which seems to have more than its fair share of accidents and incidents. Indeed, at this very junction last year, I saved the life of a tiny old lady who was about to be turned to mush by a young driver with no road sense whatsoever.

This particular junction is fitted with a pedestrian crossing. One simply has to press the button and wait for the little green man to tell pedestrians that the road is now safe to cross. These pedestrian crossings can be useful, but they can be dangerous if a pedestrian just trusts the green man and walks into the road without looking first. This is what happened last year at this junction.

I found myself waiting for the green man with around a dozen or so other pedestrians and as soon as the green man appeared everyone just stepped out into the road to cross. There were two lanes to cross and one of the lanes was rammed with standing traffic while the other lane was empty. This presented a serious danger because the pedestrians on the other side of the road could not see the fast moving car approaching the junction down the empty lane.

With the green man flashing away, I checked first and noticed that this approaching car did not seem to be slowing down on the approach to the junction. I waited and sized up the situation. I felt sure this car was not going to stop at the junction and realised that whilst most of the the approaching pedestrians were going to get across before this car reached us, the tiny old lady at the back would not make it.

Instinctively I edged out into the road and waved at the approaching car to slow down. This had the opposite effect and the driver decided to spite me by speeding up. Adrenaline coarsed through me and I screamed at the old lady to stop right where she was, halfway across the road, but protected by the line of standing traffic in the far lane. The old lady was shocked and stopped immediately, then a second later the crazy young driver shot through the junction just inches in front of the stunned lady. Had I not reacted like I did she would definitely not be with us today.

This event made me sit up and take notice of the way people are now conditioned into just doing what a light tells them to do instead of using their own road sense. It's a bit like the loss of map reading and navigation skills since the advent of sat nav devices.

Now don't get me wrong, pedestrian crossings and sat navs are great, but we must be vigilant in not allowing these devices to de-skill us. In fact earlier this morning I crossed the road at the very same junction, but the road was empty of traffic. I reached the junction and joined around five or six adults waiting to cross. They were standing there by the side of an empty road waiting for the green man to tell them it was safe to cross. I looked around and as there was no traffic, I crossed the road. As soon as I stepped into the road everyone else did so without looking. They just trusted that I knew the road was safe and followed me like lost sheep.

I found this quite shocking to be honest. Why the others could not see for themselves that the road was empty was beyond me. In fact I very often see parents with children standing at such junctions waiting for the crossing to give them instructions. Of course teaching a child to use a pedestrian crossing is essential for their safety, but teaching them to follow the instructions of a green light is not good practice. All too often they just step out into the road as soon as they're told to and will never step out into an empty road unless their electronic master tells them to do so. I find it disturbing to observe the lack of trust people have in themselves and the amount of trust they have in a light, other pedestrians and the drivers of vehicles; which have all been shown to me to be unreliable. We used to have the green cross code when I was a boy; STOP! LOOK! LISTEN! was the mantra. This now seems to have fallen by the wayside as adults and children alike just do as they're told by a flashing light.

Last year we got a car and for an extra £200 I could have an upgraded model with reversing cameras and other gadgets to do things for me, but my instinct told me to forego these add ons lest I lose my ability to reverse into a parking space. It was a quick and easy choice for me.

It's amazing these days to see just how de-skilled people are becoming as more and more technology plays a bigger role in our lives. I wonder just how much the younger generation are actually thinking for themselves and whether they are aware of just how undermining technology can be. Thinking isn't a bad thing and I for one will always trust my instincts and thought processes which have been honed over decades before putting my life in the hands of a green man.

So be vigilant friends and try to recognize the skills we lose when we over-rely on technology.

Thanks for reading.

Have a lovely, thoughtful and safe day.

STEEMONKEY🐒

Image: Pixabay