US university creates 'texting' lane on busy staircase

Washington: Keeping up with the digital times, a university in the US has created a 'texting lane' on a busy Utah Valley University  that will prevent students who are glued to their cellphones from colliding into others.

Utah's largest public university - the Utah Valley University (UVU) - which enrolls more than 34,000 students has created a 'texting lane' on a staircase leading up to its new Student and Wellness Center.

The staircase is divided into three lanes labelled 'walk', 'run' and 'text'.

The lanes are supposed to help students avoid colliding into those who are in the habit of keeping their eyes on the phone as they climb the stairs.

"You have 18-24 year olds walking down the hall with smartphones, you're almost bound to run into someone somewhere; it's something we're dealing with in this day and age," Matt Bambrough, the creative director at UVU told Fusion.

However, preventing collisions is not the primary reason for the development of the texting lane, it is to engage the students.

"It's meant to be there for people to look at and enjoy," Bambrough added.

Flourescent green paint has been used to label and number the lanes on the staircase in order to catch the eye.

The move was part of an art project, as opposed to an official school policy, said Bambrough.