December 31, 2015

Distracted walking injuries soar

CBS News - An estimated ten percent of pedestrian injuries that land people in emergency rooms are due to distracted walking, a recent study found. That's thousands of people injured -- sometimes killed.

A study found people using their phone 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.

While the number of emergency room visits for distracted walking injuries doubled between 2005 and 2010 to more than 1,500, Dr. Claudette Lajam, an orthopedic surgeon, believes the problem is actually much bigger.

"A lot of people don't admit that they do it," said Dr. Lajam. "It's getting worse as we have more and more features on these devices that we carry around with us that can distract us."

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