Doctor – Distracted Walking More Dangerous Than Distracted Driving

February 27, 2014

All of us who drive have been annoyed more than once as we've seen other motorists sitting there tapping away at the keyboards of hand-held devices while sharing the roads with us. Many of us, if we are honest with ourselves, have been guilty of the same conduct every now and then. We all know that sending and reading text messages while driving is dangerous because it takes our focus off of the driving environment that surrounds us. The problem with distracted driving has become serious and prevalent enough that many states around the country have enacted laws that basically ban texting while driving. While people tend to associate texting while driving with danger, not as many people seem to think that texting while walking is also something that raises the risk of injury for people. However, the basic point of recent comments provided by a noted doctor state that in actuality, it's quite possible that texting while walking is actually more dangerous than texting while driving. A link to an article describing these comments can be found here, and it seems as though more awareness regarding these dangers is necessary. Research into this topic reveals that on a per-mile basis, more people are injured in accidents caused by distracted walking than by distracted driving. While the injuries sustained by people who are injured in car accidents caused by distracted drivers tend to be more severe on average, there are more ways that a person who is distracted while walking can be injured. For instance, pedestrians may walk into buildings, fall down stairs, walk into traffic signals or of course step into traffic. Any of these incidents can lead to a trip to the emergency room. Distracted walking is a dangerous activity, and more people need to realize it. Any time we are moving around, we are exposing ourselves to injury. All it takes for a pedestrian to be injured is to miss one sign of danger, much like what occurs when someone is behind the wheel of a vehicle and not paying attention. As the prevalence of cell phones and hand-held devices continue to rise, it's believed that these incidents will also become more common. If you find that you are in the habit of walking while texting or reading emails, try to break that habit so that you can avoid taking on unnecessary risks. Pedestrians can also cause a high number of car accidents if they wander out into traffic and force motorists to take sudden evasive measures. Those who do cause these types of crashes should be held accountable for the harm that they inflict on others much like negligent drivers. If you or someone you love has been injured in any type of auto accident that was caused by someone who was not paying proper attention at the time, contact the Las Vegas injury lawyers at High Stakes Injury Law today to schedule a free initial consultation.