Do you look both ways before crossing the street?

If you’re one of the increasing many who are buried in their smartphone screens on busy city streets, this new talking bus program by King County Metro Transit might save your life. The agency is testing 10 buses that alert you with a friendly female voice — in both English and Spanish — when making a turn.

Metro Transit unveiled the buses yesterday in parts of Seattle and south King County.

The talking buses will be tested over the next month.

How do they work? The system is called “TurnWarning,” and sounds off when the bus goes into a turn, and a left-side strobe light activates as well. It starts when the driver turns the wheel at least 270 degrees left or 360 right.

One collision is one too many, and every incident involving a pedestrian has the potential to have the worst outcome for physical injuries and emotional effect.

“One collision is one too many, and every incident involving a pedestrian has the potential to have the worst outcome for physical injuries and emotional effect,” Metro Transit General Manager Kevin Desmond said in an online statement. “We have methodically strengthened our approach to safety over several years, and considering technology is one more option. We want to see how it might work in our community.”

Metro reports an increase of pedestrian accidents in 2012-13, according to their site. They implemented training in 2014 with their drivers and saw a drop, with 23 incidents compared to 34 in 2013.

Reducing accidents also means reducing the potential for expensive lawsuits. King County states that since 2009, it has paid out $14.2 million in claims for 24 pedestrian-related bus incidents.

The TurnWarning devices cost $4,000 each, and Desmond told King 5 that outfitting the entire fleet would cost about $3 million. “That may seem like a lot, but in the scheme of things, one bad pedestrian accident and medical claims associated with that could be more than $3 million,” he said in an interview with King 5.

One potential problem with the talking buses is the noise level. With the voice set at 90 decibels, they hope it’s loud enough for pedestrians to pick up, but not loud enough to bother residences or businesses nearby.

You can see the buses in action and more on the program from King 5’s report below: