Pedestrians with their heads buried in mobile phones are increasingly being warned against walking carelessly through traffic - but an Australian man texting as he crossed the road has encountered one obstacle he could not have predicted.


An Australian man using a mobile phone has been caught on security vision jumping out of the way of a hidden snake trying to bite him.

In a near-venomous experience near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, a man using a mobile phone was forced to dance frantically out of danger when he almost accidentally stood on a snake as he crossed the road.

The frantic encounter from earlier this month was caught by a security camera and the video posted online this week shows the startled serpent lashing at the man, who tries to get away.

The humorous video has attracted thousands of viewers but the reality of walking while using a mobile phone can be much more serious.

Pedestrian Council of Australia chairman Harold Scruby said thousands of pedestrians put their lives at risk daily by meandering through traffic with their eyes glued to a screen.

"It is out of control," he said.

"I've done quite a few patrols, exercises with the cops in the city and ... we just can't believe not just the number who are using it but the number who are completely switched off.

"They're in la-la land, seriously in la-la land.

"A lot of people will just cross with their hands up to their face ... not even looking at the direction of the traffic."

There are no Australian statistics for how many pedestrians are injured while using mobile phones but Mr Scruby said there had been cases in the past of people being killed because they were distracted by electronics.

And "for every pedestrian death you get over 10 times the number of serious injuries".

He said pedestrians should disconnect from their electronic devices completely while they're walking through traffic.

"It's a very, very dangerous behaviour and it's getting worse because people are permanently attached to these things."