Heads down, lights on: Dublin installs new light signals for phone-obsessed pedestrians
The first of the red lights, that illuminate the ground, have been installed on Tara Street and are a new safety initiative from Dublin City council.
The move is in a bid to better alert pedestrians who are looking at their phones or otherwise distracted, to pay attention to the traffic ahead. New lights are being installed at junctions in Dublin city to alert distracted pedestrians when to cross the road. Pic: Collins
Having been increasingly successful in other European countries including Poland and the Netherlands, the new initiative is currently operating under a trial basis.
Feljin Jose, Dublin City Councillor and Green party transport spokesperson previously told The Journal: 'The broad idea is that they are being trialled at very busy junctions where there's a lot of pedestrians crossing that may be distracted.'
He added: 'That's exactly the kind of thing that the traffic department should be doing, seeing what improves safety and what doesn't.' The first of the red lights, that illuminate the ground, have been installed on Tara Street and are a new safety initiative from Dublin City council. Pic: Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The lights have been dubbed 'zombie lights' elsewhere, with Dublin City Council eager to implement them in other high traffic areas of the city.
Speaking on the move, a spokesperson for the council said: 'DCC have been trialling this technology at Tara Street for a number of months and will also be trialling different technology at other crossings to determine if there is any requirement for this type of technology to be rolled out at other locations.'
'To date it is too early to determine if any particular technology is suitable and if there is sufficient evidence to roll it out at further locations.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
28 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Social media giant X fails in court challenge against Irish media regulator over Online Safety Code
Ireland's media regulator has successfully defended a High Court challenge from social media giant X over its new Online Safety Code. The judgment of Mr Justice Conleth Bradley was delivered on Tuesday in the judicial review taken by X, formerly Twitter, against Coimisiún na Meán over the code, which fully took effect last week. Both sides have been on a collision course over the Online Safety Code, which obliges major platforms based in Ireland like X, Meta, and TikTok to adopt safeguards to protect children online. Last week, Coimisiún na Meán wrote to X to express its concerns it had not adopted measures to verify the ages of users to allow them to watch pornography on the platform. It gave the Elon Musk-owned firm until last Friday to respond and it did so, with X saying it had adopted such age assurance measures in Ireland. The regulator said it would now assess if this was robust enough to adhere to the code. It follows similar laws coming into force in the UK at the same time, which Mr Musk has hit out at and claimed 'its purpose is suppression of the people'. Virtual private networks, or VPNs, which allow internet users to mask where they are browsing from, have surged in popularity in the past week as these new measures took effect. In Ireland, two VPN providers are in the top five most downloaded apps on the Apple store in the 'utilities' section this week. Advocates have said Coimisiún na Meán must be proactive in tackling the big tech firms to which the code applies, to prevent children being exposed to pornography, extreme violence, self-harm content, and cyberbullying. The High Court had previously heard X had accused Ireland's watchdog of 'regulatory overreach' in its approach to restrictions on certain video content. The company wanted the court to quash the commission's decision from last October to adopt certain sections of the Online Safety Code, which applies binding rules to video-sharing platforms headquartered in Ireland. Penalties for breaching the code could be as high as 10% of a company's turnover. The company had further asked the court to overturn Coimisiún na Meán's decision to apply the code to X. The regulator fully defended its position in the High Court, and said it had developed codes and practices for keeping people safe online in line with Irish and European legislation. Mr Justice Bradley, having considered the arguments, said he did not believe X was entitled to the reliefs it had sought. He said X had placed 'insufficient weight' on its argument that provisions of the code went further than what was required in transposing EU legislation. The judge also said sections of the code do 'not amount to an impermissible or inconsistent overreach' of the provisions of EU legislation, meaning Coimisiún na Meán had acted within its legislative powers. Mr Justice Bradley listed the case for mention on Thursday. In a statement, Coimisiún na Meán said: 'We welcome the court's judgment and will study it in full before commenting further." X was contacted for comment.
Irish Independent
a day ago
- Irish Independent
North-west outpaces other regions for innovation, according to European Commission ranking
The Commission's latest Regional Innovation Scoreboard evaluates innovation metrics such as R&D expenditure in the private and public sector in each region, how well SMEs collaborate with each other and with researchers at local universities, the products and services created by local SMEs, and employment in knowledge intensive activities. The analysis found that the northern and western region of Ireland generated strong performances this year in areas such as collaboration among innovative SMEs, participation rates in third-level education, broadband connections, studies published in international scientific papers, and cloud computing at enterprises. That's according to John Daly, the economist at the Northern and Western Regional Assembly (NWRA), which is tasked with supporting economic development in the counties of Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo, Leitrim, Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan. The NWRA is one of three regional assemblies in Ireland and is also the managing authority for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in these counties. The scoreboard shows the region's innovation score 'outperforms the likes of the Stuttgart, Catalonia, Prague and Dusseldorf regions,' Mr Daly said. He said one of the main drivers in innovation improvement in the north-west was the opening in 2022 of Atlantic Technological University (ATU), which brought together the former IT Sligo, Letterkenny IT and Galway Mayo IT. ATU 'gave scale to those institutes and enabled them to act as one,' he said. 'The likes of ATU and the University of Galway are rural by nature but now they have more capacity to better link in with neighbouring SMEs, which are increasingly collaborating with each other. It means there's more investment and focus on providing a skills base for the region, and ATU has a remit to undertake more research with private industry.' Every two years, the Commission analyses innovation indicators and categorises each European region into 'innovation leaders', which have the highest score, 'strong innovators', 'moderate innovators' and 'emerging innovators'. The most innovative region in Europe was Stockholm in Sweden. Ireland's only innovation leader is the eastern and midland region, which includes the greater Dublin area. It ranked 28th of the 241 regions examined, acting as Ireland's only 'innovation leader'. However, the northern and western region is just three places short of becoming an innovation leader, Mr Daly said. The results, he said, highlight the importance of growing innovation systems outside of the greater Dublin area.
The Journal
4 days ago
- The Journal
Uber will give women in US a choice to only travel with other women - but no plans to do it in Ireland
UBER IS INTRODUCING a feature in some US cities that will enable women to ask to only be paired with drivers who are also women – but has no plans to bring the measure to Ireland. The ride-sharing company announced this week that it is piloting a feature called 'Women Preferences' in three US cities in the coming weeks. The function will allow women using the app – both passengers and drivers – to request to only be matched with other women on trips. The pilot will start with Los Angeles, San Francisco and Detroit, with intentions to expand further across the US. Several dozen countries (Ireland isn't one of them) already have an option in the app for women drivers to request to only be paired with other women as passengers, but this will be the first time that passengers have the option. In a statement to The Journal , Uber said it does not currently plan to introduce the feature in Ireland. 'This is just a US product,' a spokesperson said. More choice. More control. Women told us they wanted the option to be matched with other women—and we listened. Now, after piloting these features in dozens of countries, we're bringing Women Preferences to the US. 🙋♀️ Riders can choose a woman driver 🚘 Drivers get more… — Uber (@Uber) July 23, 2025 Advertisement Other taxi apps operating in Ireland include Freenow and Bolt. Freenow is being acquired by Lyft, another taxi app, which has a similar feature in the US called Women+ Connect. In a statement to The Journal, Freenow Ireland General Manager, Danny O'Gorman said that Women+ Connect has been 'well received in the US' and it is 'currently evaluating whether and how similar features could be relevant for European markets'. 'Supporting passenger and driver safety is a key priority for Freenow, and we are committed to providing safe and reliable service to app users through safety features like 'Share your trip', which allows the trip to be shared with friends or family,' O'Gorman said. 'Taxi drivers in Ireland are regulated by the National Transport Authority and require full vetting by An Garda Síochána before obtaining their taxi licence,' he said. Bolt, which has a feature in some countries for passengers called 'Women for Women', said that it keeps the available locations under review but that there are barriers in the industry to growing the number of women working as taxi drivers. Kimberly Hurd, Bolt's Senior General Manager for Ireland, said: 'Safety is a top priority for Bolt, and we're always looking at new ways to support both passengers and drivers. We introduced a 'Women for Women' feature in several countries, which allows women passengers to request women drivers where available. 'While this feature is not currently available in Ireland, we're constantly reviewing where it could be rolled out next,' Hurd said, adding that Bolt has other in-app safety features like an emergency assist button. 'As a woman in the industry, increasing the diversity of drivers is a particular focus of mine. However, a major barrier to growing the number of women in the industry is the current regulatory environment,' she said. 'The cost of entering the market is high and the SPSV Driver Entry Test needs modernisation to better reflect today's technology and operating conditions. These issues need to be addressed if we're serious about improving diversity across the sector.' Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
