Dear Editor,
I wish to commend the Guyana Police Force’s ‘Operation Safeway’ for its modest successes over the first four months of 2012. I admit to being concerned at the disregard that some motorists exhibit for their safety by not using seatbelts; unlikely as it may sound maybe we need to be continually educated on that score. Although the figures on prosecutions for cell phone use while driving are indicative of a focused intervention, I feel that some attention should be paid to the emergent phenomenon of pedestrians texting on cell phones while on the roadways.
Almost daily I have cause to wonder how many accidents or near misses are occasioned by pedestrians engrossed in whatever it is that they are doing on their phones. I am sure that many of us have from time to time been faced with a pedestrian talking on the phone who is so totally out of their environment that they are seemingly unaware of the likely consequences of their careless use of the road. The empirical evidence suggests that this practice is not confined to any particular age, group or gender, although researchers at the University of Alabama found that children walking to school while using a phone are particularly prone to accidents. And lest we forget the personal security aspect, there are reports of persons having cell phones snatched while walking and talking or texting.
Editor we know what the ‘hand-held cell phone while driving‘ restriction is intended to achieve in terms of road safety, but is the hands-free mode really any better in preventing accidents? In January 2004 in Michigan a 20-year-old woman was observed not looking down, not dialling the phone, or texting, but looking straight ahead while talking on her cell phone as she sped at 48 mph past four cars and a school bus which were stopped at a red light, and never touched her brakes as she slammed into the third or fourth car going through the intersection on the green light.
Researchers determined that the crash which caused the death of a 12-year old boy was a “classic case of inattention blindness caused by the cognitive distraction of a cell phone conversation.” A National Safety Council March 2010 White Paper pointed to vision as the most important sense for safe driving, yet drivers using hands-free phones (and those using handheld phones) have a tendency to “look at” but not “see” objects. The paper observed that distracted drivers using cell phones look but fail to see up to 50 per cent of the information in their driving environment experiencing inattention blindness, similar to that of tunnel vision.
In those circumstances researchers say that drivers look but they do not process everything in the roadway environment to enable them to “effectively monitor their surroundings, seek and identify potential hazards, and respond to unexpected situations.”
Among the problems associated with talking or texting on cell phone while walking is gait disruption “to such a degree as to cause accidents,” according to scientists at Stony Brook University in New York who focused on researching the basic mechanics of putting one foot in front of the other while using a cell phone, as against “unexpected physical dangers, such as walking into a car or down a manhole.” The reality here, according to researchers, is that even though pedestrians may appear to be attentive to their surroundings while texting, or talking, the brain is not absorbing enough information to enable a person to walk normally, which, in turn, may cause misjudging of “distance to a curb or to not detect subtle changes in the texture or steepness of the surface… which could result in a fall.” Imagine, if you will, someone falling or walking into the path of an unsuspecting oncoming vehicle; it is always better to stop and text or talk if it is important and provided it is safe to do so.
However, before I feel the brunt of those persons who listen to music while walking, here is some good news: a study from the University of Illinois concluded that while talking on cell phones by pedestrians resulted in more accidents, people walking and listening to an iPod or MP3 player are less prone to accidents.
Do I hear an Amen? Notwithstanding the good work that the Traffic Department is doing on awareness of the dangers of driver distractions, we need to see some emphasis placed on developing the awareness the distractions facing pedestrians as well, particularly as they relate to looking down while text messaging or inattentiveness while talking or even while listening to music on their I-pods.
Editor, in previous letters on personal security I have spoken on the need for continuous situational awareness. Since it is not my intention to arrogate to myself the functions of the Traffic Department I guess we can safely anticipate that they themselves might recognise the need to conduct the relevant research on the factors which inhibit situational awareness and negatively impact on good road safety practices. Finally, Editor, readers might be interested to know that in March 2008 a clever publicity stunt by 118118, a UK based directory assistance company, and public space charity, Living Streets converted Brick Lane in East London into the “first safe text street” … complete with lampposts padded with fluffy, white rugby goalpost cushions as a concession to the safety of phone users who walk, text and twitter. Of course 118118 had the right to advertise its services.
Yours faithfully,
Patrick E Mentore
