Texting While Walking Isn’t Funny Anymore - WSJ

Later in the article: "“There is no cure for stupidity,” says Ms. Jain. But the same technology that created the problem could also play a role in its solution, she says, by suppressing distractions and alerting us to dangers."

"I crunched data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission and discovered that emergency room visits involving distracted pedestrians using cellphones were up 124% in 2014 from 2010—and up 10-fold from 2006. The increase was consistent with an analysis by Jack Nasar, a professor of city and regional planning at Ohio State University, who found a big uptick in cases between 2005 and 2010.

Some researchers now blame portable electronic gadgets for 10% of pedestrian injuries, and a half-dozen deaths a year. While distracted driving leads to more severe harm, incidents involving texting walkers are more common."

Texting While Walking Isn’t Funny Anymore - WSJ