Distracted walking a growing problem

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August 6, 2012

Distracted walking a growing problem

Anonymous Daily Star The Daily Star Mon Aug 06, 2012, 03:25 AM EDT

It sounds like the stuff of bad dreams: You're walking along in a deserted train station late at night, stumble and end up sprawled on the tracks. You're trekking along a pier and fall into the water. You're window shopping at a mall and tumble into a large fountain.

Those are all recent real situations that happened to people engrossed by verbal or text conversations on their cellphones.

And these accidents are happening more frequently than ever as more people become attached to their smartphones to keep in constant contact with their friends, relatives through their latest status updates, texts, music downloads, high game scores and tweets.

Not as well-known or analyzed as distracted driving, distracted walking is a dangerous phenomenon that also needs to be addressed. Just because a person is on foot and not behind the wheel of a car, there still lives a real danger for accidents and injuries.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, more than 1,100 people were treated in hospital emergency rooms in the U.S. last year for injuries suffered while walking and using a cellphone or some other electronic device.

That number of injuries has more than quadrupled in the past seven years, and those figures do not include the many unreported incidents -- perhaps because the information was not included by hospital officials in their records or the patients were too embarrassed or forgot to mention they were distracted in the circumstances leading to their injury.

Look at just about any street, parking lot, shopping center or college campus, you'll see examples of people zoned out of their surroundings while using their phones.

State and local officials seek ways to respond to distracted walking, but have struggled. Unlike distracted driving, which police patrols can ticket and have laws in place to prosecute, finding ways to protect people from their own bad habits is a bit more elusive.

According to a report by The Associated Press, Delaware state safety officials have started a publication campaign, placing decals on crosswalks and sidewalks at busy intersections urging pedestrians to "Look up. Drivers aren't always looking out for you."

The issue really comes down to a matter of common sense. When you're crossing the street, near railroad crossings, skirting waterways and other potential dangers, take a few seconds away from your phones to look up, see where you are and address your surroundings. In most cases, your conversations, music, games and other electronic distractions can wait until you know you're a safe distance from potential nightmare scenarios.