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.
|