Gary Martin: ‘Scrollisions’ are becoming a blight on society as our eyes become locked to our screens

On footpaths, throughout shopping centres and along supermarket aisles, physically running into another person was once a rarity.

Now it is a daily risk for many.

It is not just any type of collision that we are increasingly witnessing – we are talking about a scrollision, an odd-sounding word which neatly captures a familiar moment.

It is what happens when someone walks forward while scrolling on their phone.

A scrollision unfolds a bit like this.

A person moves forward without looking up. Their eyes are locked on their phone screens and their sheer inattention causes them to bump into someone else.

A quick apology is offered alongside a fleeting upward glance. And then attention slips straight back to the screen and the walk continues.

Increasingly, a scrollision sparks raised voices.

“Get off your phone.” “Watch where you’re going.” “Unbelievable.”

These flare-ups often feel strangely intense compared to the actual incident.

In other cases, there is no apology and no confrontation at all.

The offender barely looks up.

The other absorbs the impact, steps aside and carries on, even if they are left with a quiet sense of irritation that lasts longer than the collision itself.

Often, the most striking part is not the bump but how quickly it is dismissed.

If you have not experienced a scrollision, it is more than likely you will soon – they have become a daily occurrence in most public spaces.

This frequency makes them worth paying attention to.

Walking used to be something people just did, and for the most part without distraction or interference.

It meant there was space to notice things like faces, traffic, dogs, shop windows and the weather.

Today walking often feels like a side activity. The body moves forward but the focus is somewhere else.

And the real action sits in the palm of the hand.

Scrollisions have not necessarily increased because people care less about others.

They have increased because more people feel under pressure to use every moment well.

Time spent simply walking now feels wasteful unless it is filled.

But while scroll-walking might feel productive, it often produces very little.

Messages are half-read and replies are rushed. And content tends to be skimmed rather than absorbed.

Discussing this as a social trend might seem overly dramatic when the trigger is a near-miss on a footpath, along a supermarket aisle or in a shopping centre.

After all, a scrollision seems innocuous enough – and no harm has been done, right?

Wrong.

The impact is rarely dramatic though almost never neutral.

The consequences of a scrollision are usually small but they add up.

There is the obvious stuff like a bumped shoulder, a spilled coffee or a missed step off the kerb.

Occasionally, a genuine safety issue occurs when inattention happens near traffic, bikes or stairs.

But the bigger consequences are usually social rather than physical.

Scrollisions quietly run down common courtesy, with other people forced to do the adjusting.

Someone steps aside, slows down or stays alert for the person who is not paying attention.

Naming the behaviour matters because words change what people notice.

Scrollision puts a name to something that happens every day but rarely gets talked about.

Once it has a label, it becomes easier to spot – and prevent.

Scrollisions do not require a ban, fine or even a hissy fit.

And their increasing incidence does not signal a crisis.

But they are a reminder that how we move through shared spaces reflects how we think about one another.

And they reinforce the idea that presence is not automatic anymore. It has to be deliberate.

Scrollisions do not stop people moving – they just make moving together harder.

And scrollisions are likely here to stay.

The question is not so much how they should be prevented but what happens to courtesy and awareness when scrollisions become the norm.

Professor Gary Martin CEO of AIM WA and is a specialist in workplace and social trends.