Pedestrian safety vs mobile phones

It does not take research - only common sense - to realise that texting while walking is an invitation for disaster. We all hear of countless incidents where young people and even older ones have lost their lives while being glued to the phone while walking. But new research has confirmed what we already know. It is always good to have solid research backing some of the common things we know.

The research comes from the busy city of Seattle, US, where millions of pedestrians go about their daily business. Researchers, observing pedestrians in Seattle, found that nearly one in three people crossing the street at high-risk intersections was distracted by use of a mobile device. Only one in four followed the full safety routine of looking both ways, obeying the lights, and crossing at the appropriate point, the study found. Texters were four times less likely to look before crossing, obey lights or cross at the appropriate place.

They also spent more time at the intersection, by nearly two seconds, on average. Moreover, those listening to music actually speeded up while crossing the road, although they were less likely to look both ways before doing so. Another surprising fact is that female pedestrians, especially those distracted, were somewhat less likely to look both ways while crossing the street. Most of those distracted by mobile devices were listening to music (about 11 percent), with more than 7 percent texting and more than 6 percent talking or listening on a hand-held phone.

Texting is particularly dangerous because one has to look at the screen to read and type, says Dr. Beth Ebel, study co-author and director of the Harbourview Injury Prevention and Research Center of the University of Washington. For the study, published online in the journal Injury Prevention, observers watched 1,102 Seattle pedestrians at 20 high-risk intersections during randomly assigned times. About half of the observations for the study were made in the morning rush hour between 8 and 9 a.m., and just over half of the pedestrians observed were between 25 and 44. Researchers chose the 20 intersections with the highest number of pedestrian injuries during the past three years.

Distraction

Ebel said distraction in general - and texting in particular - is associated with risk for pedestrians. In 2010, there were 529 pedestrian-involved collisions in Seattle alone, with at least 252 involving some injury. Fifty were serious injuries and six were fatal, according to a Seattle Department of Transportation study.

Here in Sri Lanka, where the number of mobile phones almost exceeds the population, texting while walking is a rising, increasingly dangerous trend. With every youth having a mobile phone which they use seemingly all the time, accidents are just waiting to happen. Texting is just one part of it - listening to the radio, browsing the Web, updating Facebook and twitter accounts and video calling on 3G/Skype - all these are potential distractions while on the road on your feet.

While almost all countries including Sri Lanka have banned the use of hand-held mobile phones while driving, only a very few countries have laws in place to curb the use (or misuse?) of mobiles while walking. Some States in the US have addressed this problem by broadening jaywalking laws. (Incidentally, Police in Sri Lanka are now getting tough on jaywalking and may be they could advise pedestrians not to be distracted by their mobile phones). Parents too should advise their children on the dangers of using mobile phones on the road and on the rail tracks, where many teenagers like to walk on despite the inherent danger. A phone can be loud enough to drown out the sound of even a train, especially if earphones are worn.

As Ebel says, “many of us contribute to this problem. I think the place to start with this is with ourselves. When you're texting, you're really not looking... You're drawn into the world of the answer you're sending back to somebody, and you're simply not paying attention.”

This is a timely warning to minimise the use of cellular and similar devices when we are out on the road, driving or walking. The proliferation of new ‘phablet’ (in between tablets and phones) devices with bigger screens has put a spanner in the works, because the eyes cover an even wider area of screen real estate.

Talking on the phone while walking is generally acceptable, as long as your eyes are on the road.

But almost every other activity you can do on these phones could be a harbinger of disaster. One second (of distraction and slow reflex action) is all it takes to take a life. There are plenty of cases where the offending motorist and the pedestrians have been ‘on the phone’ which slows down other reflexes. The axiom that it is better to be safe than sorry applies here.

Connected

Ours is a connected world. We want to be connected to our friends, colleagues and relatives all the time. Physical social interaction has almost given in to social networking via the Web. As a previous column noted, SMS recently celebrated its 20th anniversary but newer competitors are already well established. Even Facebook has an instant messaging service. It is difficult to predict where this technology is headed but our lives will never be the same again. Just 20 years ago, only a very few people had mobile phones.

There was no question of anyone getting killed while reading an SMS on the road then. Now almost everyone is doing it, much to the consternation of law enforcement authorities.

It would not be unthinkable that States would evolve some kind of laws to deal with this menace.

It has to be an international effort, because it is a global problem. Pedestrian safety is of paramount importance - even car manufacturers are giving serious thought to this aspect when designing their latest models, some of which are equipped with pedestrian airbags. But it is up to mobile users to refrain from using their mobiles while on the move. As the saying goes, kill the call, not yourself.