Don’t Text and Walk

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We’ve all been told not to text and drive – and many don’t listen – but Tuesday HealthDay News reported on a study of another way phones can cause accidents…

In conducting the study, a team of surgeons examined pedestrian injuries related to car accidents among various age groups.

The researchers compiled information on more than 1,400 pedestrians in New York City who were treated at Bellevue Hospital Center’s emergency room within 24 hours of being hit by a car. The accidents occurred between December 2008 and June 2011. The patients and emergency medical staff were interviewed, and the patients’ medical records were examined.

Although [researcher Nina] Glass and her colleagues couldn’t determine if all the drivers involved in the accidents were at fault, they found that nearly one in five patients aged 13 to 17 were sending text messages, listening to music or otherwise distracted by a mobile device when they were hit. Only 10 percent of the adults in the study were doing the same when their accident occurred.

They recommend doctors tell parents and children to put away the phone while cutting across traffic.

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