That research shows distracted walking has become a global problem due to increasing cell phone use, especially in cities.
“For example, in South Africa in the last 10 years alone the percentage of the population who owns cell phones has grown from 17 percent to 76 percent," Mickalide says. "In fact, South Africans have greater access to cell phones than they do clean running water.”
Urbanization is another reason.
“We’re building highways without having the proper education for people in learning how to cross the street," she says. "This is a particular problem in India. And in China we have many people moving from rural to more urban areas, while at the same time we’re not providing them with the necessary education.”
That’s where awareness campaigns come in. Watkins doesn’t ask teens to stop using their hand-held devices or listening to music all the time while walking, just some of the time.
“The 20 to 25 seconds that you are crossing the street is more important than the call or the text [message],” she says.
She says the golden rule of safety remains the same; look both ways once, and then again, before crossing the street.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25