(Ana Sandoiu/ Medical News Today) — Some have dubbed texting “the new drunk driving” — and for good reason. New research suggests that texting while walking can also be dangerous, as it rounds up all the head and neck injuries that occurred due to cell phone use over a 20 year period.
According to the United States Department of Transportation, distracted driving led to 3,166 deaths in 2017. Of these deaths, 599 affected pedestrians, cyclists, and others who were not behind the wheel of a car at the time of the accident.
Although distracted driving includes more than just texting, “dialing or text messaging on [a] cell phone or any wireless email device” was responsible for 401 fatal crashes in 2017. However, texting while driving is not the only way in which cell phone use can be distracting and potentially dangerous. Texting while walking can also lead to accidents, and with 96% of people in the U.S. owning a smartphone, researchers set out to ask what percentage of head and neck injuries are attributable to cell phone use. (…)