Document Detail


Distraction and pedestrian safety: How talking on the phone, texting, and listening to music impact crossing the street.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  22269509     Owner:  NLM     Status:  In-Data-Review    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
As use of handheld multimedia devices has exploded globally, safety experts have begun to consider the impact of distraction while talking, text-messaging, or listening to music on traffic safety. This study was designed to test how talking on the phone, texting, and listening to music may influence pedestrian safety. 138 college students crossed an interactive, semi-immersive virtual pedestrian street. They were randomly assigned to one of four groups: crossing while talking on the phone, crossing while texting, crossing while listening to a personal music device, or crossing while undistracted. Participants distracted by music or texting were more likely to be hit by a vehicle in the virtual pedestrian environment than were undistracted participants. Participants in all three distracted groups were more likely to look away from the street environment (and look toward other places, such as their telephone or music device) than were undistracted participants. Findings were maintained after controlling for demographics, walking frequency, and media use frequency. Distraction from multimedia devices has a small but meaningful impact on college students' pedestrian safety. Future research should consider the cognitive demands of pedestrian safety, and how those processes may be impacted by distraction. Policymakers might consider ways to protect distracted pedestrians from harm and to reduce the number of individuals crossing streets while distracted.
Authors:
David C Schwebel; Despina Stavrinos; Katherine W Byington; Tiffany Davis; Elizabeth E O'Neal; Desiree de Jong
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article     Date:  2011-08-09
Journal Detail:
Title:  Accident; analysis and prevention     Volume:  45     ISSN:  1879-2057     ISO Abbreviation:  Accid Anal Prev     Publication Date:  2012 Mar 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2012-01-24     Completed Date:  -     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  1254476     Medline TA:  Accid Anal Prev     Country:  England    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  266-71     Citation Subset:  IM    
Copyright Information:
Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1300 University Blvd, CH 415, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA.
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From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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