We have all seen — or been — the pedestrian strolling through an intersection, looking at his or her phone instead of watching for oncoming obstacles. Maybe he was checking his email, or Facebook, or searching for a nearby lunch spot. No matter what he was doing, we know he was definitely not paying attention to his surroundings. (This was particularly true last summer, when the Pokemon craze was upon us.)

Even people who should know better — like myself, a personal injury lawyer who specializes in injury and accident law — have crossed streets while looking down at my phone. People don’t always think about the gravity of the risks associated with distracted walking like they would with distracted driving, but various studies have shown a demonstrable increase in pedestrian accidents, including fatalities, coinciding with the widespread use of smart phones. So this raises the question, do you truly know the risks involved with looking at your phone while you walk?

The Risks of Distracted Walking

By 2006, Samsung, Ericsson, and Blackberry were mass producing phones.  In 2007, Steve Jobs introduced the world to the first iPhone.  Up until 2009, pedestrian accidents had been decreasing; however, from 2010 to 2012, pedestrian fatalities in the United States increased by 15%, according to a study by the Governors Highway Safety Association.

The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) commissioned a Distracted Walking Study in 2015. The study involved 2,000 respondents nationally, and another 500 respondents in each of the following eight cities: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, Phoenix, Atlanta and Seattle.  90% of the participants reported seeing pedestrians distracted by their cell phones and 37% admitted to being distracted by looking at the phone while walking themselves.

Distracted pedestrians were likely to have been a contributing factor in the 4,200 pedestrian deaths and 70,000 injuries in traffic crashes in 2010, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

The percentage of pedestrians killed when using their cell phones has risen from less than 1 percent in 2004 to more than 3.5 percent in 2010. Not only that, but the number of pedestrians injured while on their cells has more than doubled since 2005, according to an Ohio State University study.  Researchers at The Ohio State University say an estimated 1,500 pedestrians were treated in emergency rooms in 2010 for injuries related to using their cell phones. Studies have also found that distracted walkers take longer to cross the street, are more likely to ignore traffic lights and are more likely to fail to look both ways.

So distracted walking is definitely a problem, one that has only grown in the recent years, a problem that is particularly prevalent among teens. Nearly 40 percent of U.S. teens have been hit or nearly hit by a passing car, motorcycle, or bike — and those hit or nearly hit tend to report higher rates of cell phone-related distraction than their peers.

“While talking on the phone is a distraction, texting is much more dangerous because you can’t see the path in front of you,” said Dr. Dietrich Jehle, a professor of emergency medicine at the University of Buffalo in New York, in a 2014 press release.

The American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) expanded its injury-prevention efforts to include distracted walking.  The “Digital Deadwalkers” radio and television public service announcements (PSAs) distributed in 2015 and 2016 humorously, but effectively, highlight what can happen when pedestrians focus on anything or anyone other than the task of safely getting where they need to go.

Distracted walking is not only dangerous because of automobile traffic, but it also places pedestrians at risk of tripping and falling and walking into obstructions, other pedestrians or other dangerous conditions.

Improved technology, such as smartphones, can certainly enhance our lives, but it poses new risks as well. Please be careful when you are out and about no matter if you are driving, riding or walking.

Disclaimers:

The information in this blog post (“post”) is provided for general informational purposes only, and may not reflect the current law in your jurisdiction.  This blog is not intended to, and does not, create an attorney client relationship, an offer of employment or a guarantee of success for clients of The Drexler Law firm.  No information or representation contained in this post should be construed as an offer of employment, guarantee of success or the creation of an attorney client relationship with The Drexler Law firm, nor as legal advice from The Drexler Law Firm or the individual author.  No reader of this post should act, or refrain from acting, on the basis of any information included in, or accessible through, this post without seeking the appropriate legal or other professional advice on the particular facts and circumstances at issue from a lawyer in the corresponding jurisdiction.

There are time deadlines during which a case must be brought, according to your jurisdiction or state, and failing to abide by the jurisdictional statute of limitation rules can result in your case being time-barred.

See also, David Drexler’s blog entitled: “8 Ways You Could Have A Valid Legal Bicycle Accident Claim”