iPod to blame for increase in pedestrian deaths

Tragically, NSW has recently seen a staggering 25% rise in pedestrian deaths. Research links this rise to the increased use of iPods by pedestrians.

A 25 per cent rise in the pedestrian death toll in Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, has been partly blamed on iPod use.

The so-called “iPod zombie trance” that people get into when listening to and playing with their mobile devices is allegedly behind an increase in collisions and deaths in American and Europe too, the Sydney Morning Herald said.

The issue was highlighted in New South Wales at the weekend when a 46-year-old Sydney woman, who was reportedly wearing headphones, was struck and killed by an ambulance while crossing the road.

Harold Scruby, of the Pedestrian Council of Australia, said there was little research into the phenomenon, but that the Government should force manufacturers to warn consumers of the risks posed by the potentially lethal devices.

From news.com.au: ‘Pedestrian death toll rise blamed on iPods in New South Wales’