Why Trip Hazards Are So Dangerous

Tweet

I went to visit a new outlet mall in Southern California this week. As you can see from the photo on the right, that was a mistake. This is not my only injury. I am bruised and scraped in several places. My pants leg and knee were torn; my purse (which helped break my fall) was ripped too. If you have seen the episode of The Brain Games explaining how the brain does not let you see the unexpected, Did You See That? (on Dateline), or read the book The Invisible Gorilla, you will know what happened. I walked across the center court at the convergence of four major pedestrian corridors on Thursday during the Grand Opening of the new mall, and tripped over something that should not have been there. I didn’t see it. This new center is brand new, squeaky clean and state of the art. Yet, they did not put enough electrical outlets at the center of the courtyard. They placed a large Christmas tree there, complete with electrical lights. They also set up a temporary stage with a microphone and music. They did not plan ahead when they designed the center. They did not think ahead when they stretched electrical cords from a nearby restaurant across the courtyard to the stage. They covered the cords with a low, flat, ramp-like object designed to allow wheelchairs to go over the top of the cords. But it was black and unobtrusive. The brain does not process unobtrusive. This is why traffic cones are bright orange. This is why stop signs are bright red. This ramp should have been neon yellow, so that it was visible, and no one would trip, go flying and land on the pavement. I was paying attention to where I was going. I was not distracted, but the brain does not process stupid very well. How can we protect ourselves from being hurt if our brains are not able to help us avoid the illogical and unsafe actions of others?