Why smartphone owners won't give – even when they're not using their phones

As a disabled person, I have noticed this to be a huge problem in San Francisco over the past 5 years or so. I regularly get pushed into walls and trees as groups of young people walk by. A courtesy I learned as a young child walking in the financial district with my father was to always get into a single file line when approaching a group walking towards your group. It is also a common courtesy to walk on the right side of the sidewalk, like roadways, when walking against oncoming people.

And while I have your attention.. It is also common courtesy, and something San Franciscans have known for years, to remove ones backpack when riding MUNI. Either wear it in the front or put it down between your legs. That way you are not unknowingly smashing people in the face or taking up too much space on a crowded bus.

Nothing to do with smartphones, it's a wider thing. For example, two parents with pushchairs will walk side by side, expecting other pedestrians to step into the gutter or into the road. Or cyclists riding on the pavement, especially on Boris Bikes in London, who adopt the policy of just riding straight at pedestrians as if they're not even there.

I'm just waiting for two of them to have a head-on collision.

An amusing negative-feedback loop when the population gets too high.