Voices
to a pandemic which makes the
fictional, movie “outbreaks” of
designer epidemics and zombie
flicks literally pale in comparison.
Seattle’s intersections were
monitored by the University of
Washington, and they got an eyeful: Pedestrians who texted were
four times less likely to look
before crossing streets, stay in
crosswalks, or obey traffic signals.
Ohio State University studied
local emergency rooms and discerned that more than 1,500 people were treated for cell-phonerelated injuries, a triple increase
from previous years. Cell-phone
abuse is a close cousin of textingwhile-walking abuse. Cell-phone
usage while driving has already
been addressed by state legislatures in almost every state.
Texting while walking has not
received the same attention. But
that is changing.
ABC News reported back in May
2012 that the reported number of
distracted walking accidents doubled each and every year, with 100
percent compounded increases
logged in from 2006 to 2007 to
2008. If the ABC stats hold true,
a geometric progression of pandemic proportions has reached
the point where those scattered
DR. ROCK
POSITANO
HUFFINGTON
09.29.13
“incidents” now cover the technologically advanced world from
continent to continent.
The humor of the incidents,
sometimes reported on social
media, itself distracts from the
seriousness of the problem. Anecdotal “viral” stories such as
the “texter” Los Angeles man
almost bumping into a prowling
black bear, the “Fountain Lady”
in Pennsylvania who walked, and
‘Distracted walking’
is a matter of concern to
public health professionals,
slowly joining ‘distracted
driving’ as a matter of
urgent national attention.”
texted, her way into a mall decorative fountain, “distracted walkers” who took a long walk off a
short pier into Lake Michigan, a
New York woman who texted herself into a open sewage manhole,
and other “LOL” favorites gather
some laughs, but how funny they
really are dep V