Essay Sample on Distracted Walking

Introduction

The picture shows a pedestrian who is walking on the road while texting at the same time, his eyes glued on his phone. He does not seem to be observing the rules of safety on the way. Texting while walking lowers down the ability of a person to walk on a straight line and slows down a person's pace. As much as the pedestrian is texting and walking at the same time, he does not seem to be tripping or falling. He takes his steps in such a way that he is cautious about where he is stepping. He seems to be walking in the middle of the road. One of the rules is to stay as far much right as you can to allow people behind to pass. By using his phone he does not get the opportunity to look behind him from time to time, hence the possibility of blocking other people who could be moving at a faster speed. The problems caused by walking while texting is more common in our society with the changes in technology and rise of smartphones. Most people are dependent on their phones and other hand-held devices to quickly access information. This paper will provide an analysis of the potential disasters of texting while walking, including harm and serious injuries.

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Injuries that occur from a person texting while walking range from; ankle injuries, facial fractures, nose bleeding, cuts, concussions, spinal cord injuries, strains and even death that occur due to walking into telephone poles and missing steps. Others result from collisions with some vehicles crossing the street and other pedestrians (Schwebel et al. 266). Recent reports have seen more and more distracted walkers getting treated in emergency departments in the hospitals. Numerous studies in psychology have concluded that most people cannot focus on more than one thing at a time. Most shifting their attention between tasks have lower performance in either one or both of the functions. Most pedestrians who use smartphones usually think they are in control yet; they do not always watch for other activities around them. Most stories have been told about distracted pedestrians. There are those who walked into cars on oncoming traffics while there are those who fell off the subway platforms into train tracks while glued on their phones.

The dangers of distracted walking are similar to those of distracted driving. Each year, the overall death rates of distracted pedestrians' increases, to a point some cities in the United States have banned walking while texting. There is the stigma that arises when a person is injured due to their fault, with some people denying using their phones at the time of an accident. The problem is the use of social networking apps, checking a person's email, and playing games while walking. In Ohio state university, researchers found out that younger youths were most likely to get injured in the event of using their cell phones (Nasar et al. 69). Most men got injured while using their phones as compared to women according to their statistics texting affected a significant percentage of people. The journal "injury prevention" also published a study that observed that people that crossed on intersection while texting were slower, and took extra seconds and displayed unsafe crossing behaviors (Thompson et al. 232). In New York City, the danger of drivers hitting pedestrians in the walk is enormous.

The solutions to distracted walking include; the person not using their phones while walking, and focusing on one task at a time. A person can still do their other jobs when they arrive safely. The person can avoid risks by holding his phone high in his visual field, to see threats as they come if he cannot wait to check his mail. He can ensure that he obeys the traffic signals and cross the road at the signalized intersections (Thompson et al. 232). Another solution is taking breaks to look at the surroundings to increase safety while texting and walking. Due to recent trends, there is software which enables voice recognition. Instead of a person continually looking at their screen, they can give commands with their voices to read out messages and type for them.

Conclusion

Most communities have implemented measures that ensure walking safely, including; adding more paths and steps to calm traffic. Despite all this, the safety of pedestrians still has a long way to go. Most people have been seen complaining about distracted walkers saying that despite them being a nuisance, they are vulnerable on the roads. Some Democrats even suggested that half of the revenues should be allocated to creating safety awareness among distracted pedestrians - most people walking know about self-preservation and paying attention. In Honolulu city in the United States, it is illegal to look at the phone while crossing the road (Reid 235). A fine of up to ninety-nine dollars is issued on those people texting while crossing the street. This has been done to force people to try and look up while they are crossing the road. In other cities, physical adjustments have been implemented to change pedestrians' behavior. These have changed the way people walk.

Works Cited

Nasar, Jack, Peter Hecht, and Richard Wener. "Mobile telephones, distracted attention, and pedestrian safety." Accident Analysis & Prevention 40.1 (2008): 69-75.

Reid, Alan J. "Conclusion." The Smartphone Paradox. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2018. 235-258.

Schwebel, David C., et al. "Distraction and pedestrian safety: how talking on the phone, texting, and listening to music impact crossing the street." Accident Analysis & Prevention 45 (2012): 266-271.

Thompson, Leah L., et al. "Impact of social and technological distraction on pedestrian crossing behavior: an observational study." Injury Prevention 19.4 (2013): 232-237.