It's no news that being on your smartphone while you're walking on the road can cost you your life. And this can get all the more risky if you're texting on your phone while walking than listening to music or being on call. New findings say that smartphone texting is linked to compromised safety with even higher rates of 'near misses'.
Says a study researchers from University of Calgary in Canada, "Given the ubiquity of smartphones, social media, apps, digital video and streaming music, which has infiltrated most aspects of daily life, distracted walking and street cross will be a road safety issue for the foreseeable future,"
Around 270,000 pedestrians die every year worldwide which accounts for around a fifth of all road traffic deaths.
The main cause of safety issue that has been recognised is that of 'pedestrian distraction' as so many people are so used to their smartphones or holding the devices while they're walking on the pavement or crossing the roads.
Researchers say that talking on the phone was actually associated with a little increase in the time taken to start crossing the road and a little more missed opportunities to cross the road rather safely.
Texting emerged as the most harmful behaviour, says study as it was associated with lower rates of looking right or left before actually crossing the road and with an increased rate of collisions and close calls with other people or vehicles on the roads.
This even affects the time that takes to cross a particular road and missed opportunities to safely cross the same, but to a lesser extent.
The review of all these studies revealed that the percentage of pedestrians distracted ranged from 12 to 45% and the behaviours were influenced by many factors like solo or group crossing, walking speed, time of the day, including gender.
