New warning signs urging passengers to stop being glued to their smartphones have recently found their way onto multiple lines of the Beijing subway.

The signs feature the famous no-smoking style red circle with a line through it, on top of a figure arched over their mobile phone, complete with the words "Eyes on the Real World” written in English and Chinese. Posted throughout stations, on escalators and inside the subway carriages themselves, the signs are designed to remind passengers of the dangers of being distracted by their smartphones while taking public transportation.

With the proliferation of smartphone addiction in China, shocking incidents have seen people unexpectedly died or get injured after being fixated on their phones over recent years, causing recurring headlines on China’s social media.

A woman from Wenzhou, east China’s Zhejiang Province on December 29, 2015 drowned after slipping and falling into a canal, as she could not remove her gaze from her screen before it was too late.

“Staff pick up an average of five smartphones dropped by passengers on the rail tracks every month”, Ying Lei, the man in charge of Dahongmen subway station on Beijing’s Line 10, said during an interview with Beijing Daily last June. He added that passengers shrug off kind reminders from subway staff to put away their mobiles, warning them of the potential risks present on the subway.

Do you always stare at your mobile phone on the subway? After you've left your comment on this story, put your phones away and keep your “eyes on the real world” for the sake of your own safety.