Pedestrian Risks from Distractions may be Higher Than We Know
As a Monmouth County auto accident lawyer, I closely follow developments related to inattentive or distracted driving. The New York Times as part of its Driven to Distraction series has a new report focusing on dangers to pedestrians using cell phones while walking.
The New York Times report includes a survey that a research team at the Ohio State University conducted into the risks of distractions in pedestrians. The study found that in 2008, more than 1,000 pedestrians suffered injuries in accidents caused by text messaging or talking on the cell phone while walking. The survey found that young pedestrians were more likely to be injured because of such distractions, with 50 percent of injuries resulting in emergency room visits occurring in people under the age of 30. At least 25 percent of emergency room visits from cell phone use-related accidents were pedestrians between 16 and 20 years old. However, a quarter of the pedestrians who were injured were between 41 and 60 years. This means that it’s not just young pedestrians who are more likely to run into stationary objects, fall into potholes, trip over sidewalks or suffer other accidents because of distractions.
The Ohio State University study is believed to be the first serious one devoted to the risks from distracted driving for pedestrians. However, last year, a less formal study in Washington found that pedestrian inattentiveness while using a cell phone may be much more dramatic than we think. The Washington study involved observing students at a college campus square. A man in a clown costume rode a unicycle around the campus, while dozens of students walked about. The researchers found that just 25 percent of the students who were talking on a cell phone, noticed the clown. People walking in pairs were twice as likely to notice the clown, as students having a conversation on their cell phone.
This seems to indicate that merely having a conversation - as the students walking in pairs were doing - is not the main cause of inattentiveness. Talking on a cell phone likely produces mental images that are connected to the conversation the person is having, and these images likely inhibit the mind’s ability to process real life images.
Scott Grossman is a Monmouth County auto accident lawyer, representing injured victims of auto accidents in Freehold, Marlboro, Aberdeen, Howell, and across Monmouth County.
