“Distracted Walking” On The Rise

Posted on January 18, 2010 by Lolita Carrico

States across the country are banning “distracted driving” — which includes talking on the phone and texting while behind the wheel, but there’s a new problem on the rise: distracted walking.

Citing a recently published study, the New York Times wrote:

Slightly more than 1,000 pedestrians visited emergency rooms in 2008 because they got distracted and tripped, fell or ran into something while using a cellphone to talk or text. That was twice the number from 2007, which had nearly doubled from 2006, according to a study conducted by Ohio State University, which says it is the first to estimate such accidents.

And considering that there are likely more incidents that didn’t bring people into the ER, the number can only get higher. So, what’s a busy, metropolitan city with tens of thousands of pedestrians to do? Initiate a texting while walking ban?

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