Guest Column — Hot Topics

Put your phone away — it may save your life

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Curbing distracted driving is a hot topic, and rightfully so. More than 450,000 people were injured in crashes that reportedly involved distracted driving in 2009, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. More than 5,000 of those people died. The numbers are rising, and distracted pedestrians are adding to the risk.

Many people have been inches from their deaths because they were glued to their phone when stepping off the sidewalk. Most of us don’t even think about the potential dangers as we turn our eyes away from our physical environment to focus on our virtual one.

For the first time, the National Safety Council included distracted walking as a category in its annual report on unintentional deaths and injuries. While it sounds like common sense, looking up while walking and checking both ways before crossing the streets really goes a long way to keeping you safe.

People distracted by their phones or other devices while driving, bicycling or walking is a growing problem. Recent studies have shown that 78 percent of Americans said distracted walking is a serious issue. An estimated 10 percent of pedestrian injuries that land people in emergency rooms are due to distracted walking. That’s thousands of people injured and sometimes killed.

One study found that people using their smartphones while walking veered off course 61 percent of the time, and overshot their target 13 percent more than when they were not distracted by their device. Distractions come in many forms, according to www.distraction.gov, a U.S. Department of Transportation website. There are three main distractions while driving:

n Visual – taking your eyes off the road

n Manual –taking your hands off the wheel

n Cognitive – taking your mind off what you’re doing

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