Aug 09 2008
RamblerTexting Accidents on the Rise
Emergency room physicians in the United States are warning of a relatively new phenomenon: people getting hurt because they’re text-messaging instead of paying attention to what they’re doing.
Injuries and deaths related to sending text messages at inappropriate times is on the rise. Activities like walking, driving, biking or travelling on in-line skates are all being done now while texting.
Many young adults and teens are arriving in emergency departments with serious and sometimes fatal injuries because they were not paying attention while texting.
People are texting and they trip and fall on their faces. Many face, chin, mouth (and) eye injuries from falls are becoming commonplace. Worse injuries result when people are texting and are then involved in collisions with bikers and people on rollerblades.
Two deaths tied to texting accidents
Most injuries involve minor scrapes, cuts and sprains from texters who walked into lampposts or walls or tripped over curbs.
Even so, ER doctors who responded to a recent informal questionnaire reported two deaths – both in California. A San Francisco woman was killed by a pickup truck when she stepped off a curb while texting, and a Bakersfield man was killed last year by a car while crossing the street and texting.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission does not have a national estimate for how common texting-related injuries are. Since 2005, however, the agency has received at least seven reports of serious texting mishaps. This includes a 15-year-old girl who fell off her horse while texting and a 13-year-old girl who suffered injuries after texting her boyfriend while cooking noodles.
Other reports include a 39-year-old man who suffered a head injury after crashing into a tree on his bicycle while texting and a 16-year-old boy who suffered a concussion because he was texting while walking and walked into a telephone pole.
Apparently a street in London is experimenting with applying protective padding to lampposts, to protect pedestrians who have a habit of walking into them while focusing on their mobile phones. The protective padding will start at London’s East-End in the iconic Brick Lane. This is where the highest incidents of ‘walking and texting’ injuries in the country have been reported.
Advice for Texters:
–Don’t text or use a cellphone while performing any physical activities that require attention.
–Never text or use a hand-held cellphone while driving or motorcycling.
–Avoid becoming distracted by rummaging through purses, backpacks or clothing. Keep cellphones and BlackBerrys in easily accessible locations.
–Ignore the call or message if it might interfere with concentration during activities that require attention.
| 3.7 (1 person) |
4 responses so far
Yikes….texting here…texting there….they are texting everywhere!!
The latest concerns are that high school students are slowly losing the ability to communicate due to text messaging.
They do not make eye contact which is a vital part of communication.
The concern also is hugely that these students are becoming the new world of desensitization.
We see it, we talk about it, we even have documented proof of it…what are we doing about it???
This stage has been predicted for years and it is one more step towards the downfall of mankind!
Thanks for bringing this article to our attention!
~D~
Very interesting article! I feel that these accidents should ‘not’, and i stress ‘not’, be covered by insurance companies. Why should we, as a society or insurance companies, pay for the wrong doings of texters?
It’s actually disturbing, as in the ignorance of texters and their relatives. I read a story today where a girl fell down a manhole while texting. She was not injured but the family is having the gull to sue. Sue who? How can one sue for the lack of common sense? Or better yet – how can the courts allow one to receive damages because of these senseless acts?
It’s unreal! I think texters should be forced to wear helmets and/or wear full body padding (like the MythBusters do when they do stunts ) when texting in public places. That way they look like the fools they are and be safe while doing it.
After all, all life takes is a touch of common sense.
Have a great day!
As an emergency responder I can personally attest to the rise of texting injuries, including several pretty bad wrecks from idiots texting while they drive. Shoot, I can testify to way more then seven serious accidents and one death because of texting while not paying attention. I really think that texting should be done away with for public safety, to speak nothing of how annoying it is to try to talk to someone(IE getting a patient history) while they sit and text at the same time. I can honestly say that texting is my number one pet peeve, I hate it more then words can describe.
Hi!!! my name is queenmagda and im very concerned about this epidemic called texting and all its diferent forms-texting and driving, texting and walking, texting and working, please visit my blogspot. I would like people to be more concerned about this situation, mostly when all this is bringing social problems, regardless of the age, sex, marital status, its growing and we got to find a cure to this problem !! Thanks