According to research by the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, headphone-wearing pedestrians have more to fear than hearing loss — they could lose their lives.
More iPods and MP3 Players, More Fatalities
The University of Maryland study, published in Injury Prevention, found that traffic deaths and serious injuries among headphone wearers tripled in the past six years. The growing incidence of these accidents closely corresponds to the increasing popularity of portable electronics used with headphones.
“These devices are becoming more popular and more people are using them, and certainly there are very solid reasons why they can put you at increased risk of injury,” said Dr. Richard Lichenstein, the study’s author and a pediatric emergency medicine specialist at the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Fatal Distraction
University of Maryland researchers reviewed 116 accident cases from 2004 to 2011 in which injured pedestrians were known to have been using headphones. Of the 116 cases, 70 percent resulted in death. More than half of the moving vehicles involved in the accidents were trains and in nearly one-third of the cases the sounding of some type of warning horn prior to the crash was reported.
Dr. Lichenstein and his colleagues point to two likely contributing factors associated with headphone-related injuries and deaths: distraction and sensory deprivation. Lichenstein terms the use of headphones and earbuds in high-traffic areas “inattentionial blindness.”
He explains, “In most cases when you’re listening to music that you like or to a very important or a good story, that’s going to take hold, and everything else will sort of be on autopilot. Basically, you’re plugging up one of your senses that you would use — your ears — and you can’t really hear all the noises and sirens and alarms that could prevent injury from occurring.”
Not surprisingly, the study showed that pedestrians in densely populated areas were more likely to be injured while wearing headphones. Of the 116 cases reviewed, 89 percent occurred in urban settings.
No Easy Solution
Dr. Lichenstein acknowledged that there may not be a good solution to ending the use of earphones while moving about. “The best we can do is really educate that if you’re using these devices that you love — the MP3 players and cellphones and iPods — at least use them thoughtfully and be aware of the environment that you are using them in,” he said.
Sources:
Alan Blinder, Study: “Injuries of Pedestrians Wearing Headphones Soar,” The Examiner
ScienceDaily.com