Credits: Social Media
The biggest threat to you while walking on the street is your iPhone, study shows
The University of British Columbia has found that using your phone while walking on the street dramatically decreases your safety.
Even though experts have been warning us against smartphones for years, we humans just can’t help but gobble up the newest features and iOS 18 update. Nonetheless, there’s no denying the fact that phones increase the risk of heart disease, can add to mental health issues, and draw you away from real-world experiences.
Smartphone addiction is affecting our safety on the streets
This week, the University of British Columbia’s Department of Civil Engineering published a study in the Accident Analysis & Prevention journal about our dependency on phones and how it relates to safety while walking. It painted a pretty dire picture.
Non-distracted pedestrians made safer choices when interacting with vehicles, said lead researcher Dr. Tarek Sayed, a civil engineering professor and transportation safety expert. They maintained greater distances from vehicles, yielded more frequently to oncoming traffic, and adjusted their speed when necessary.
The researchers soon found that distracted pedestrians showed a 46.5% decrease in safety levels compared to those with their focus on the task at hand. People on their phones also tended to stray closer to vehicles, with the distance between distracted pedestrians and vehicles being 30.2% less than for non-distracted people.
The most concerning aspect was how distracted people are 65.7% slower than focused pedestrians. A lack of speed, focus, and proximity to vehicles is a disaster waiting to happen.
The study also looked into driver behaviour
Thankfully, most drivers seem to recognize the danger of a distracted pedestrian as they naturally slow down when approaching them. Of course, we can’t solely rely on the reactions of drivers to keep us safe.
With the iPhone’s new gaming system, Netflix, and just about every other distraction imaginable, it’s somewhat unrealistic to expect humans to suddenly drop their social media addiction. A better approach might be fitting the city to its populous, the researchers said.
For example, we can accommodate the risk of distracted walking and design safer infrastructure by adjusting crosswalk signal cycles or introducing audio signals to let pedestrians know when it is time to cross, said study co-author Tala Alsharif. City planners could also display warnings specifically for pedestrians distracted by their phonesperhaps even introduce mobile notifications that prevent pedestrians from using their phones while crossing.
