<p>It is a scene repeated the world over: pedestrians glued to their phones while walking, causing collisions and sometimes accidents. No more, says one Japanese city.</p>.<p>Officials in Yamato city, near Tokyo, on Monday submitted a bill to the city assembly to stop people from using their phones while walking.</p>.<p>"The number of people using smartphones has rapidly increased and so have the number of accidents" in the densely populated area, city official Masaaki Yasumi told AFP.</p>.<p>"We want to prevent that," he said, adding if passed it would be the first such ban in Japan.</p>.<p>But Yasumi said there will be no punishment for those unable to tear themselves away from their screens in the street.</p>.<p>"We hope the ban will raise more awareness about the dangers," he said. Posters and messages will inform citizens of the rule, expected to take effect from next month.</p>.<p>In 2014, research by Japanese mobile giant NTT Docomo estimated a pedestrian's average field of vision while staring down at a smartphone is five percent of what our eyes take in normally.</p>.<p>The company ran a computer simulation of what would occur if 1,500 people used the hectic Shibuya pedestrian crossing in Tokyo while all looking at their smartphones.</p>.<p>The results showed that two-thirds would not make it to the other side without incident, with 446 collisions, 103 people being knocked down and 21 dropping their phones.</p>.<p>The number of accidents between people using phones while riding a bicycle and pedestrians is also increasing in Japan.</p>.<p>In some cases, victims' families demand up to 100 million yen ($1 million) in compensation.</p>
<p>It is a scene repeated the world over: pedestrians glued to their phones while walking, causing collisions and sometimes accidents. No more, says one Japanese city.</p>.<p>Officials in Yamato city, near Tokyo, on Monday submitted a bill to the city assembly to stop people from using their phones while walking.</p>.<p>"The number of people using smartphones has rapidly increased and so have the number of accidents" in the densely populated area, city official Masaaki Yasumi told AFP.</p>.<p>"We want to prevent that," he said, adding if passed it would be the first such ban in Japan.</p>.<p>But Yasumi said there will be no punishment for those unable to tear themselves away from their screens in the street.</p>.<p>"We hope the ban will raise more awareness about the dangers," he said. Posters and messages will inform citizens of the rule, expected to take effect from next month.</p>.<p>In 2014, research by Japanese mobile giant NTT Docomo estimated a pedestrian's average field of vision while staring down at a smartphone is five percent of what our eyes take in normally.</p>.<p>The company ran a computer simulation of what would occur if 1,500 people used the hectic Shibuya pedestrian crossing in Tokyo while all looking at their smartphones.</p>.<p>The results showed that two-thirds would not make it to the other side without incident, with 446 collisions, 103 people being knocked down and 21 dropping their phones.</p>.<p>The number of accidents between people using phones while riding a bicycle and pedestrians is also increasing in Japan.</p>.<p>In some cases, victims' families demand up to 100 million yen ($1 million) in compensation.</p>