WASHINGTON — More people get hurt using their cellphones at home than in public, according to data compiled by the National Safety Council.
Fifty-two percent of cellphone-distracted walking injuries occur at home, and roughly 10 to 11 percent involve texting, statistics show.
“The majority of at-home cellphone injuries are occurring while we’re having just normal conversations walking around the house,” said Ken Kolosh, the National Safety Council’s statistics manager. “When we’re out in the public, we have our safety guards on. But once we get home, that’s our safe place, and we relax and put our guard down.”
Kolosh recommends people not walk and talk, give undivided attention to conversations, and clean up clutter.
“Look around your house. How many trip hazards are there?” Kolosh asked. “Do you have rugs that you can trip on? Do you have your laundry stacked on your stairs?”
The number of people getting hurt grew dramatically during the study period. In 2000, roughly 400 people visited emergency departments due to injuries sustained while walking and distracted by a cellphone. By 2011, that number grew to more than 2,000.
According to findings, 80 percent of the injuries occurred because of a fall. Sixty-eight percent of those injured are women, and 54 percent are aged 40 or younger.
“Distraction is an issue that cuts across all demographics,” Kolosh said. “It’s the young, it’s the old, it’s the men and the women. It’s not that women are inherently less safe than men. It’s really a reflection of them using cellphones to such a degree.”
