Smartphone
texting linked to compromised pedestrian safety
BMJ
Smartphone texting is linked to
compromised pedestrian safety, with higher rates of 'near misses' and failure
to look left and right before crossing a road than either listening to music or
talking on the phone, indicates a pooled analysis of the available evidence,
published online in the journal Injury Prevention.
But much of the data is experimental
and beset by quality issues, making it difficult to draw firm conclusions,
caution the researchers, who call for a more thorough approach to exploring the
impact of distracted pedestrian behaviours on crash risk.
Worldwide, around 270,000
pedestrians die every year, accounting for around a fifth of all road traffic
deaths.
'Pedestrian distraction' has become
a recognised safety issue as more and more people use their smartphones or hand
held devices while walking on the pavement and crossing roads.
To try and gauge the potential impact on road safety of hand-held/hands-free device activities, including talking on the phone, text messaging, browsing and listening to music, the researchers looked for published evidence.
From among 33 relevant studies, they
pooled the data from 14 (involving 872 people) and systematically reviewed the
data from another eight.
They looked specifically at: time
taken to start walking or begin crossing the road; missed opportunities to
cross safely; time taken to cross the road; looking left and right before or
during crossing; and collisions and close calls with other pedestrians and
vehicles.
The pooled data analysis showed that
listening to music wasn't associated with any heightened risk of potentially
harmful pedestrian behaviours.
Talking on the phone was associated
with a small increase in the time taken to start crossing the road and slightly
more missed opportunities to cross the road safely.
Text messaging emerged as the
potentially most harmful behaviour. It was associated with significantly lower
rates of looking left and right right before and/or while crossing the road,
and with moderately increased rates of collisions and close calls with other
pedestrians or vehicles.
It also affected the time taken to
cross a road and missed opportunities to cross safely, but to a lesser extent.
The review of the eight
observational studies revealed that the percentage of pedestrians who were
distracted ranged from 12 to 45%, and that behaviours were influenced by
several factors, including gender, time of day, solo or group crossing, and
walking speed.
The researchers acknowledge "a variety
of study quality issues" which limit the generalisability of the findings.
Nevertheless, they point out:
"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."
And as signage and public awareness
campaigns don't seem to alter pedestrian behaviour, "Establishing the
relationship between distracted walking behaviour and crash risk is an
essential research need," they conclude.
