Distracted Walking Can Lead to Accidents Too!

People always talk about the dangers of distracted driving. When drivers text or talk on the phone while they are behind the wheel, it can lead to terrible accidents because they do not have their eyes on the road. Yet this same principal can apply to those that are walking on foot. In New York City, many individuals walk to and from the subway station to work every day.

The high-speed pace of life in this city mandates a lot of multi-tasking. Busy performers, business people, and other employees walk while texting, checking their social media profiles, managing their calendar, and more. This can be a great way to0 save time, but it can also be extremely dangerous.

A recent study shows that about 1,500 victims were injured by distracted walking and treated in emergency rooms for injuries as a result in the year 2010. While it is impossible to learn how many pedestrian injuries are the result of distracted walking, the fact is that many times pedestrians are looking down at the phones when they are hit by vehicles.

Some of these accidents may be the pedestrian’s fault. An individual who does not look at the crosswalk signs may walk right out into the middle of a busy road. In other cases, a driver may be at fault, but the pedestrian may have been able to avoid the injuries that happened as a result of the accident. Interestingly enough, studies show that there were only between 256 and 600 pedestrian and cell phone injuries in the years between 2004 and 2007.

In the year 2008, the amount of pedestrian accidents due to cell phone use and distracted walking rose to 1,055 and the next year the number rose to 1,113 injuries. In 2010, statistics show that the number of pedestrian accidents skyrocketed again to 1,506. If you were injured in a pedestrian accident and don’t believe that it was your fault then you need to talk to a New York City personal Injury attorney for more information.