The dangers of distracted driving are well reported. Distracted drivers cause thousands of accidents every year, and many times they can cause a pedestrian accident. However, pedestrians are increasingly getting distracted as well. According to some reports, Chicago pedestrians are often focused on their handheld devices or phones while walking down the street and may be completely unaware of their surroundings.

In 2010, a ban was placed on texting while driving in Illinois. Last year, the city council also placed a ban on texting while cycling. There is no law in place, however, for texting while walking. An Illinois Representative proposed a bill that stated an individual who used of a cell phone when crossing a street was subject to a $25 fine. As has been the case in other major cities, the bill was unsuccessful.

Even though texting while walking is not against the law, it still can be very dangerous. A distracted walker will likely not cause the same kind of serious damage as a distracted driver may cause, but he or she can still get hurt. Besides running into other people, a person who is focused on his or her phone may not be aware of the dangerous drivers around.

There are roughly 72,000 Chicagoans who walk to work, and 335,000 people who walk to and from public transportation. In 2010, about 3,000 of these pedestrians were struck by a car and 32 died as a result of the accident.

Pedestrians are being encouraged to put down their phones while they are walking in order to help reduce the number of these accidents. Pedestrians are some of the most vulnerable people on the road, and there is already the danger that a pedestrian could be hit by a car if the driver is not paying attention. If a pedestrian is not similarly distracted, an accident may be avoided.

Source: Medill, "Texting while walking: Legal, but dangerous," Marisa Paulson, Jan. 12, 2012