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Study: Mobile Phone Dangers Double

DETROIT (WWJ) - You see it all the time: people walking and talking or texting on their phones. Now new research shows just how dangerous that can be.

Ohio State University researchers say the number of pedestrians admitted to the ER because they're too busy on their mobile phone to watch where they are going has doubled in the last five years — and is expected to double again in the next five.

They examined data for seven years — from 2004 to 2010 — involving injuries related to cell phone use for pedestrians in public areas (in other words, not at home).

About 1,500 pedestrians who were on their phones went to the ER in 2010, but researchers estimate the actual number is actually hundred of times higher.

The majority were hurt while making a phone call rather than texting.

A wide variety of injuries were reported.  One 14-year-old boy walking down a road while talking on a cell phone fell 6 to 8 feet off a bridge into a rock-strewn ditch, suffering chest and shoulder injuries.  A 23-year-old man was struck by a car while walking on the middle line of a road and talking on a cell phone, injuring his hip.

[MORE FROM OSU HERE].

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