Smartphone puts pedestrians in mortal danger
A study from Germany concludes that almost 17% of pedestrians use their smartphones in traffic. This means that younger people in particular are putting their lives at risk.
More and more pedestrians are putting their lives in danger through intensive smartphone use in road traffic. This is the conclusion of a new study by the DEKRA accident research . Of the nearly 14,000 pedestrians surveyed, a total of nearly 17 % used their digital all-in-one in various ways while participating in traffic.
Making phone calls, listening to music and co
Across all age groups, just under eight percent of pedestrians texted while crossing the street. Another 2.6 percent were talking on the phone and about 1.4 percent were doing both at the same time. About five percent wore earplugs or headphones without talking - presumably listening to music. As might be expected, younger pedestrians tended to use smartphones more often than older ones - with the most intensive use (over 22 percent) observed in the 25-35 age group.
"Talking on the phone, listening to music, using apps or even typing text messages cause risky distractions in road traffic," says Clemens Klinke, Member of the Board of Management of DEKRA SE and responsible for the Automotive Business Unit. "Many pedestrians apparently underestimate the dangers they expose themselves to when they turn their attention away from road traffic in such ways," the expert said.
Dangers lurk always and everywhere
In a comparison between the six cities observed, Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Paris, Rome and Stockholm, the differences are rather small. In Amsterdam, compared with all the other capitals surveyed, cell phone use was less frequent across all age groups. Here the rate was 8.2 percent, while in Rome it was 10.6 percent. Brussels (14.12 percent), Paris (14.53 percent) and Berlin (14.9 percent) delivered very similar results, while Stockholm had by far the most frequent use at 23.55 percent.
"Our survey teams sometimes reported extreme single distraction situations. What was repeatedly observed were groups of young people looking into a smartphone together while crossing the street. In one case, the whole group even collided with a cyclist," Klinke reports. Another example: A woman pushes a stroller across the crosswalk at a traffic light - while typing on her smartphone without paying attention to the traffic light as she continues to cross.
(press release)
