Distracted Walking Injuries on the Rise
January 24, 2012 By Aaron Kase
Your parents probably taught you to look both ways before crossing the street. But the growing proliferation of cell phones and other handheld electronic devices means that more and more people are looking in neither direction when they step out in traffic, and wearing headphones only increases the sensory deprivation.
Distracted walkers have an annoying habit of getting in the way of traffic or other pedestrians, but worse, a new study finds, sometimes they end up in the hospital—or dead.
Distracted walkers have an annoying habit of getting in the way of traffic or other pedestrians, but worse, a new study finds, sometimes they end up in the hospital—or dead.
• Study finds 116 deaths or injuries from headphone-abetted collisions
• Liability unclear in distracted walking cases
• No state laws exist regulating walking while phoning
Death by Headphone
A recently released study by the Injury Prevention publication, part of the British Medical Journal, found that 116 people have been killed or
injured in the United States since 2004 in collisions between people
injured in the United States since 2004 in collisions between people
wearing headphones and vehicles—cars, and, even more frequently,
trains. In nearly a third of the cases studied, the vehicle sounded a
warning, which went unheeded, presumably because headphones were blocking out outside noise. Over two thirds of victims were males and under the age of 30.
trains. In nearly a third of the cases studied, the vehicle sounded a
warning, which went unheeded, presumably because headphones were blocking out outside noise. Over two thirds of victims were males and under the age of 30.
The Injury Prevention study isn’t the first time distracted walking has been the subject of inquiry. A New York
Times story from 2010 found that over 1,000 patients visited emergency rooms in 2008 after injuring themselves while walking and phoning, a number that had doubled each of the previous two years. With the rise of smart phones, that figure is likely to have increased again since 2008.
The Times lists some examples that might be considered humorous, as long as you aren’t the injured party:
“Examples of such visits include a 16-year-old boy who walked into a telephone pole while texting and suffered
a concussion; a 28-year-old man who tripped and fractured a finger on the hand gripping his cellphone; and a
68-year-old man who fell off the porch while talking on a cellphone, spraining a thumb and an ankle and causing dizziness.”
a concussion; a 28-year-old man who tripped and fractured a finger on the hand gripping his cellphone; and a
68-year-old man who fell off the porch while talking on a cellphone, spraining a thumb and an ankle and causing dizziness.”
The most famous distracted walking case to date occurred last January, when YouTube hero Cathy Cruz
Marrero was caught on camera toppling into a mall fountain while sending a text message. Marrero considered suing the mall after her accident, until reports of her long history of retail theft came to light and she quickly ducked out of the spotlight.
Who Can I Sue?
“It’s remarkable to me that people will jaywalk at an angle with their back to traffic, with headphones on or
texting away,” says David White, a partner at Massachusetts personal injury and medical malpractice firm Breakstone, White & Gluck. “The burden on drivers is tremendous to avoid accidents with people like that. I wish people would be a little more careful.”
texting away,” says David White, a partner at Massachusetts personal injury and medical malpractice firm Breakstone, White & Gluck. “The burden on drivers is tremendous to avoid accidents with people like that. I wish people would be a little more careful.”
The potential dangers were illustrated in a 2009 Western Washington University
study, in which only 25 percent of people using a phone while walking across campus
noticed a man wearing a “purple-and-yellow clown costume with polka dot sleeves,
red shoes and bulbous red nose” riding around on a unicycle. If you are so engaged in
a phone call to not notice a clown on a unicycle, how are you going to be aware of
such an everyday sight as a car in the street, even if it’s bearing down on you at high speeds?
noticed a man wearing a “purple-and-yellow clown costume with polka dot sleeves,
red shoes and bulbous red nose” riding around on a unicycle. If you are so engaged in
a phone call to not notice a clown on a unicycle, how are you going to be aware of
such an everyday sight as a car in the street, even if it’s bearing down on you at high speeds?
If an accident victim were to sue in such a case, the driver might be able to sway a
jury to consider the role of device usage by the pedestrian, says White. “The analysis
is the same as it would be in any kind of accident— you start with the negligence of
is the same as it would be in any kind of accident— you start with the negligence of
the defendant driver, who would compare the comparative negligence on the part of the pedestrian,” the
attorney says. Since there aren’t any laws prohibiting headphone or mobile use while walking, the defense wouldn’t be able to get a statutory leg up, but scientific studies like the one noted above could help the case. There’s also the common sense factor. “Just take ordinary analysis,” White says, “You could not have been paying too much attention where you’re going.”
Against the Law?
While distracted driving laws have been proliferating around the country the last five years, no states have yet
passed similar laws for pedestrians. Last year New York and Arkansas considered regulating use of electronic
passed similar laws for pedestrians. Last year New York and Arkansas considered regulating use of electronic
devices and headphones while walking, though neither effort was successful. New York State Sen. Carl Kruger, a leading evangelical of distracted walking laws who has tried since 2007 to ban pedestrians from using electronic devices while crossing the street in major cities, expounds on his views in this WRGB Albany interview.
There was also a brief Internet uproar last summer after a false report that
Philadelphia was going to start handing out citations for texting while walking (“There is no policy, plan or activity in Philadelphia where pedestrians are being ticketed for texting,” Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter’s press secretary responded to a Gawker story. “Your whack job reporter . . . needs to get his facts straight.”).
Aside from anti-jaywalking ordinances in some cities, there are few laws
governing the behavior of pedestrians at all, and White doesn’t see walking
while phoning laws becoming a reality anytime in the near future. “It will be a
while before legislators start to pick up the pen and legislate distracted
while phoning laws becoming a reality anytime in the near future. “It will be a
while before legislators start to pick up the pen and legislate distracted
walking,” he says. “They will be perceived as meddling a little too much, even though it makes perfectly good public health sense.”
ARTICLE 2:
Is technology helping disability?
Suffering from "locked-in syndrome", Jeff Hall communicates with the world using just one finger.
The former TV engineer from San Antonio, Texas was paralyzed by a stroke when he was 40 years old and left with only limited movement including some control of his head, arms and legs.
With the help of technology he can live independently and has recovered some of the freedom he lost seven years ago.
He talks using a text to speech synthesizer called Ghost Reader and with the aid of an Apple computer and an Android phone he can pay bills, text friends and send emails.
"Thanks to those, the entire world has opened up for me," he says.
The former TV engineer from San Antonio, Texas was paralyzed by a stroke when he was 40 years old and left with only limited movement including some control of his head, arms and legs.
With the help of technology he can live independently and has recovered some of the freedom he lost seven years ago.
He talks using a text to speech synthesizer called Ghost Reader and with the aid of an Apple computer and an Android phone he can pay bills, text friends and send emails.
"Thanks to those, the entire world has opened up for me," he says.
“ There is a certain amount of friction between open source like Android and accessibility ”
Robin Christopherson, AbilityNet
Robin Christopherson, AbilityNet
Seven years ago this enabling equipment was limited and expensive. The kit that helped Jeff to speak cost $10,000 (£6,000).
But today he is able to use the same common gadgets as other people.
"One of the beauties of mainstream devices is that they have hundreds of peripherals that you can just add on," says Robin Christopherson from AbilityNet, a British organisation that promotes accessibility in technology.
"In a specialist device, adding in say, Bluetooth connectivity will add another $100 (£60) to the price."
She says the main reason people like Jeff now feel comfortable with off-the-shelf technology is the way that operating systems are designed.
Disabled designers
Many of the major technology firms now involve the disabled community in development.
Jason Grieves is visually impaired and leads the Windows 7 accessibility team at Microsoft.
But today he is able to use the same common gadgets as other people.
"One of the beauties of mainstream devices is that they have hundreds of peripherals that you can just add on," says Robin Christopherson from AbilityNet, a British organisation that promotes accessibility in technology.
"In a specialist device, adding in say, Bluetooth connectivity will add another $100 (£60) to the price."
She says the main reason people like Jeff now feel comfortable with off-the-shelf technology is the way that operating systems are designed.
Disabled designers
Many of the major technology firms now involve the disabled community in development.
Jason Grieves is visually impaired and leads the Windows 7 accessibility team at Microsoft.
"In Windows 7 we were able to provide a Beta out and this allowed customers with disabilities to provide us with feedback.
"They were able to send us emails and send us tools that they wanted to see incorporated into the operating system," he says.
The critical thing, according to Hall, is how well these systems can be adapted for use with applications created by third party developers for disabled users.
It is these pieces of software that allow Jeff Hall to freely interact with the world. He uses them for everything from speaking to controlling the lights in his home.
But there is a contradiction here.
While leaving software open to manipulation can benefit disabled users, it also means that software systems evolve outside of the control of the big technology firms.
"Free for all"
This could disadvantage disabled users as accessibility may be overlooked when no one firm or group of firms is held responsible for ensuring it.
"There is a certain amount of friction between open source like Android and accessibility," says Robin Christopherson.
"It is one of these strange situations where a closed environment like the IOS (Apple's operating system) actually lends itself far more to make sure that accessibility is catered for.
"It's pretty much a free for all in the Android environment and because it's a disparate community working on open source software, the first thing that goes out the window is accessibility."
But surely technology cannot go backwards?
Jeff Hall worries that as systems develop, they could start to alienate disabled people.
Innovations such as multi-gesture controls - two-finger scrolling on the iPad and iPhone, or the use of a Microsoft Kinect, are impossible for people in his position.
Multi-gesture is in itself a small thing but he fears it could be a harbinger of worse to come.
People like Jeff are relatively few in number and, in his case, are literally voiceless.
He is calling for tech giants to continue to maintain awareness of users like him and of the way in which technological marvels can transform their lives, for better and for worse.
"They were able to send us emails and send us tools that they wanted to see incorporated into the operating system," he says.
The critical thing, according to Hall, is how well these systems can be adapted for use with applications created by third party developers for disabled users.
It is these pieces of software that allow Jeff Hall to freely interact with the world. He uses them for everything from speaking to controlling the lights in his home.
But there is a contradiction here.
While leaving software open to manipulation can benefit disabled users, it also means that software systems evolve outside of the control of the big technology firms.
"Free for all"
This could disadvantage disabled users as accessibility may be overlooked when no one firm or group of firms is held responsible for ensuring it.
"There is a certain amount of friction between open source like Android and accessibility," says Robin Christopherson.
"It is one of these strange situations where a closed environment like the IOS (Apple's operating system) actually lends itself far more to make sure that accessibility is catered for.
"It's pretty much a free for all in the Android environment and because it's a disparate community working on open source software, the first thing that goes out the window is accessibility."
But surely technology cannot go backwards?
Jeff Hall worries that as systems develop, they could start to alienate disabled people.
Innovations such as multi-gesture controls - two-finger scrolling on the iPad and iPhone, or the use of a Microsoft Kinect, are impossible for people in his position.
Multi-gesture is in itself a small thing but he fears it could be a harbinger of worse to come.
People like Jeff are relatively few in number and, in his case, are literally voiceless.
He is calling for tech giants to continue to maintain awareness of users like him and of the way in which technological marvels can transform their lives, for better and for worse.
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