How Dangerous if Distracted Walking?

What are suggested that may be causing this increase are pedestrians being distracted by their smartphones and iPhones, according to a news report. New York City Transportation Commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, is quoted in an article in the New York Times saying that an app for an iPhone wasn’t invented yet that could alert users when they approach a crosswalk.

Khan goes on to say that in the past she has been in situations where she has grabbed and saved some distracted pedestrians who have been looking down at their smartphones while they were unknowingly crossing the street in oncoming traffic.

The number of traffic fatalities involving pedestrians or bicyclists, in New York City, was 176 for the fiscal year, ending on June 30. This is 11% more than the previous year. A recent editorial in The Washington Post covered the danger of “distracted walking.”

“If distracted driving is an issue worth addressing, so is distracted walking,” according to The Washington Post’s editorial page.

4,280 pedestrians were killed and an estimated 70,000 were injured in traffic crashes throughout the United States in 2012, which is a 4% rise from 2009.

It is averaged that every 2 hours a pedestrian was killed and every 8 minutes a pedestrian was injured in traffic crashes around the country.