Distracted Walking: Finally, Some Hard Data

Pedestrian fatalities were 15 percent higher in 2014 than they were in 2009, according to the February Governors Highway Safety Association report. Mobile devices undoubtedly play a role, though I didn't spot a percentage. The National Safety Council, a safety advocacy group, does provide some factual information though.

"As mobile devices have become more ubiquitous, the number of emergency room visits by distracted walkers has climbed steadily," writes Ashley Halsey III, transportation reporter for The Washington Post. "Some of the best information is a bit out of date, but it gives a sense of the trend. In 2005, 256 pedestrians injured while using phones received hospital treatment, a number that grew sixfold by 2010."

“It’s just really dangerous,” said Deborah Hersman, who heads the National Safety Council and is former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. “Everybody walking down the sidewalk either has their headphones on or is looking down at their phone. It’s a sad commentary on our society when you look at how distracted people are.”

Planetizen has covered this walking danger extensively - click on the "distracted walking" tag. While smart phones do pose a hazard to walking, they can also encourage walking by showing where interesting local destinations are located and how to get there without driving.

However, Halsey III's piece focuses exclusively on the threat that walking-while-distracted from cell phones pose. The data is still minimal, so he includes lots of anecdotal injuries.

"Some data suggests that at any given moment on the streets of America, 60 percent of pedestrians are distracted while walking, meaning either on the phone or doing something on their phone,” said Alan S. Hilibrand of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. “It’s a bit of a startling number.”

But the public views that as acceptable behavior, not dangerous.

"A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found that Americans have grown comfortable using their mobile devices in public, and nowhere more so than “while walking down the street,” which 77 percent said was generally okay.

However, it's not okay, according to NSC.

"Distracted walking injuries involving cell phones accounted for an estimated 11,101 injuries between 2000 and 2011, making it a significant safety threat," they wrote in an earlier news release. "The trend is so alarming that it was included for the first time in the annual National Safety Council statistical report, Injury Facts®, which tracks data around the leading causes of unintentional injuries and deaths."

"Hersman said it’s hard for most people to ignore their phones," writes Halsey III.