Impact of social and technological distraction on pedestrian crossing behaviour: an observational study
TL;DR: The findings suggest the need for intervention studies to reduce risk of pedestrian injury and increase crossing times, with text messaging associated with the highest risk.
Abstract: Objectives The objective of the present work was to study the impact of technological and social distraction on cautionary behaviours and crossing times in pedestrians. Methods Pedestrians were observed at 20 high-risk intersections during 1 of 3 randomly assigned time windows in 2012. Observers recorded demographic and behavioural information, including use of a mobile device (talking on the phone, text messaging, or listening to music). We examined the association between distraction and crossing behaviours, adjusting for age and gender. All multivariate analyses were conducted with random effect logistic regression (binary outcomes) and random effect linear regression (continuous outcomes), accounting for clustering by site. Results Observers recorded crossing behaviours for 1102 pedestrians. Nearly one-third (29.8%) of all pedestrians performed a distracting activity while crossing. Distractions included listening to music (11.2%), text messaging (7.3%) and using a handheld phone (6.2%). Text messaging, mobile phone use and talking with a companion increased crossing time. Texting pedestrians took 1.87 additional seconds (18.0%) to cross the average intersection (3.4 lanes), compared to undistracted pedestrians. Texting pedestrians were 3.9 times more likely than undistracted pedestrians to display at least 1 unsafe crossing behaviour (disobeying the lights, crossing mid-intersection, or failing to look both ways). Pedestrians listening to music walked more than half a second (0.54) faster across the average intersection than undistracted pedestrians. Conclusions Distracting activity is common among pedestrians, even while crossing intersections. Technological and social distractions increase crossing times, with text messaging associated with the highest risk. Our findings suggest the need for intervention studies to reduce risk of pedestrian injury.
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TL;DR: A systematic review of the relationship between problematic use with psychopathology and the severity of psychopathology found depression severity was consistently related to problematic smartphone use, demonstrating at least medium effect sizes.
801 citations
Cites background from "Impact of social and technological ..."
...Smartphone use is also a distractor among pedestrians while walking or crossing the street (Schwebel et al., 2012; Thompson et al., 2013)....
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TL;DR: The importance of social and tactile need fulfillment variables such as FoMO and need for touch as critical mechanisms that can explain problematic smartphone use and its association with depression and anxiety is demonstrated.
513 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe naturalistic patterns of mobile device use by caregivers and children to generate hypotheses about its effects on caregiver-child interaction, and observe 55 caregivers eating with 1 or more young children in fast food restau-
Abstract: AND OBJECTIVES: Mobile devices are a ubiquitous part of American life, yet how families use this technology has not been studied. We aimed to describe naturalistic patterns of mobile device use by caregivers and children to generate hypotheses about its effects on caregiver-child interaction. METHODS: Using nonparticipant observational methods, we observed 55 caregivers eating with 1 or more young children in fast food restau-
319 citations
21 Apr 2018
TL;DR: Interfaces communicating vehicle awareness and intent are found that can help pedestrians attempting to cross; are not limited to the vehicle and can exist in the environment; and should use a combination of modalities such as visual, auditory, and physical.
Abstract: Drivers use nonverbal cues such as vehicle speed, eye gaze, and hand gestures to communicate awareness and intent to pedestrians. Conversely, in autonomous vehicles, drivers can be distracted or absent, leaving pedestrians to infer awareness and intent from the vehicle alone. In this paper, we investigate the usefulness of interfaces (beyond vehicle movement) that explicitly communicate awareness and intent of autonomous vehicles to pedestrians, focusing on crosswalk scenarios. We conducted a preliminary study to gain insight on designing interfaces that communicate autonomous vehicle awareness and intent to pedestrians. Based on study outcomes, we developed four prototype interfaces and deployed them in studies involving a Segway and a car. We found interfaces communicating vehicle awareness and intent: (1) can help pedestrians attempting to cross; (2) are not limited to the vehicle and can exist in the environment; and (3) should use a combination of modalities such as visual, auditory, and physical.
240 citations
Cites background from "Impact of social and technological ..."
...In contrast, we often heard participants comment about the disadvantage of visual cues for those who might be color blind, visually impaired, or for distracted pedestrians (a problem also discussed by [30])....
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TL;DR: The literature studying relations between problematic smartphone use (PSU) and anxiety symptom severity is examined, and an own theoretical model of how PSU is specifically related to anxiety is presented.
164 citations
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TL;DR: Text messaging while driving has a negative impact on simulated driving performance, and this negative impact appears to exceed the impact of conversing on a cell phone while driving.
Abstract: Objective: This research aims to identify the impact of text messaging on simulated driving performance. Background: In the past decade, a number of on-road, epidemiological, and simulator-based studies reported the negative impact of talking on a cell phone on driving behavior. However, the impact of text messaging on simulated driving performance is still not fully understood. Method: Forty participants engaged in both a single task (driving) and a dual task (driving and text messaging) in a high-fidelity driving simulator. Results: Analysis of driving performance revealed that participants in the dual-task condition responded more slowly to the onset of braking lights and showed impairments in forward and lateral control compared with a driving-only condition. Moreover, text-messaging drivers were involved in more crashes than drivers not engaged in text messaging. Conclusion: Text messaging while driving has a negative impact on simulated driving performance. This negative impact appears to exceed the impact of conversing on a cell phone while driving. Application: The results increase our understanding of driver distraction and have potential implications for public safety and device development.
391 citations
13 Jul 1997
TL;DR: The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the oldest specialized agency of the United Nations, far older, in fact, than the UN itself as discussed by the authors, and it is unique in the sense that while it is first and foremost an intergovernmental organization, it very much is a partnership between the public and private sectors.
Abstract: Summary form only given. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the oldest specialized agency of the United Nations, far older, in fact, than the UN itself. The ITU is unique in the sense that while it is first and foremost an intergovernmental organization, it very much is a partnership between the public and private sectors. Indeed, given the explosive growth occurring in the telecommunication sector and the transformations occurring around the world, this partnership is its very strength. Radiocommunications is also playing an ever increasing role in the technological evolution which we are witnessing. This article reviews the history of the ITU, the changes in its structure and functioning and measures being considered to further adapt the ITU to the changing telecommunication environment.
363 citations
TL;DR: For pedestrians as with drivers, cognitive distraction from mobile phone use reduces situation awareness, increases unsafe behavior, putting pedestrians at greater risk for accidents, and crime victimization.
351 citations
TL;DR: Testing how talking on the phone, texting, and listening to music may influence pedestrian safety found distraction from multimedia devices has a small but meaningful impact on college students' pedestrian safety.
350 citations
"Impact of social and technological ..." refers background in this paper
...Additionally, virtual studies of pedestrians corroborate our finding that text messaging increases high-risk pedestrian choices.(22) Individuals walking with music crossed more speedily than those with no distractions; previous studies suggest that a musical beat may alter the natural gait speed of an individual....
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TL;DR: Results indicated that conversation, whether conducted in-person or via a cellular phone caused RT to slow, whereas listening to music on the radio did not.
336 citations