Distracted mobile device use among street-crossing college student pedestrians: an observational approach

Abstract

Objective

To estimate the incidence of mobile device use among street-crossing pedestrians and explore differences by sex and intersection type at a large public South-eastern university in the United States.

Participants

All instances of campus pedestrians crossing the street during the observation period (N = 4,878).

Methods

Video recordings of crosswalk activity at four locations were analyzed for pedestrian use of a mobile device while crossing.

Results

Device use while crossing was observed 1,201 (24.6%) times. Of male crossing instances, 277 (16.8%) were coded as using a device. Of female instances, 924 (28.6%) were coded as using a device. Differences in device use while crossing were found between sexes and some intersection types.

Conclusions

This study estimates mobile device use while crossing the street and suggests differences by sex and intersection type. Future research should focus on improving understanding of the problem and evaluation of interventions to address the issue.

Keywords:

• Distracted pedestrian
• distracted street crossing
• mobile device distraction
• pedestrian observation

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of The University of Alabama.

Additional information

Funding

No funding was used to support this research and/or the preparation of the manuscript.