Distracted Walking Injuries Quadruple — Mobile Devices to Blame?
The number of citizens wandering into ditches, on-coming cars, and each other while staring at electronics has “quadrupled”, according to the Associated Press. “Look up. Drivers aren’t always looking out for you,” reads a Delaware traffic safety sign, one of many states that are turning to the magic of PSA billboards as a substitute for state legislatures that have almost universally opposed laws criminalizing “distracted walking.” While the Internet is overflowing with hilarious bloopers, such as one man walking into a real-life black bear (video below), distracted walking is a serious problem, and is implicated in the 4.2% rise in pedestrian fatalities in 2010. An estimated 1,152 people were sent to the emergency room last year, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The stories of distracted texting as saddening as they are hilarious. Some highlights from the data: A 24-year-old woman who walked into a telephone pole while texting;A 28-year-old man who was walking al...