Canadian safety surveys have turned up some interesting figures: six out of ten Canadian teens and young adults text while they walk, and after the recent switch back to standard time, that’s even riskier behavior because of earlier twilights.
A study sponsored by Desjardins Insurance indicated that in the period soon after the time switch, pedestrians are three times more likely to die in traffic. And it’s not just the 16-24 year olds, although among older groups, only 30% owned up to texting and walking.
Other distracted walking issues include headphone use, where again, younger people had higher rates, by a huge margin (57% vs 26%). Another obvious factor in accidents, jaywalking, is widespread, too. In the 16-24 age group, 47% said they do it, compared to an overall 38%.
