mid-day editorial: Calls can be returned, not precious lives

Cell phone mania is at an all-time high. A teenage in the city sustained grave injuries when a local train knocked him over while he was searching for his missing mobile phone on the tracks between Sion and Matunga stations. A friend halted another train to rush him to hospital. Apparently, the incident took place when the two Kurla-residents were heading to CST for work. They were standing near the door in an overcrowded train when one of them got a call. In his hurry to answer it, the phone fell on the tracks. But instead of letting it go, they alighted at the next station and got down on the tracks to search for the device.

So absorbed was the young man in the search for his phone, that he did not realise a train was approaching towards him. The train knocked him down and he hit his head on an iron rod. His friend had to stop another train to rush him to hospital.

Sadly, this isn't a lone example of people going to extreme measures for their phones. More often than we would like, ‘cell phone casualties' are reported.

If an individual is close to the doors of an overcrowded compartment, why not wait till they alight at the station before returning the call? Taking calls or even talking on mobile phones while standing perilously close to the doors of overcrowded compartments is a strict no-no. Allow the call to register on your phone and call back once you have reached your destination or at least when you are better placed inside the train.

Pedestrians engrossed on their phones have led to many tragedies on streets. Even motorists tend to risk lives of numerous people by speaking on their phones while driving. More common sense while handling mobile phones is the need of the hour. It helps to remember than a call can be returned, not lives or limbs when they are lost.