The ‘iPod zombie death trance’
p2pnet view Music:- The ‘”iPod zombie trance” is being blamed for an increasing number of road deaths.
It’s a contributing factor to the 25% rise in the number of pedestrian fatalities in NSW, says The Age, stating:
“The issue has been highlighted in Sydney by the death of a 46-year-old Glebe woman reportedly wearing headphones when she was knocked down and killed by an ambulance on Saturday night.”
But Death by iPod it isn’t confined to Oz.
“The ‘iPod zombie trance’ people get into when walking, driving or pedalling around listening to their mobile devices is being blamed for an increase in collisions and even deaths in Europe and the US”, says the story.
The woman, who “might not have heard the ambulance siren”, was “one of at least six pedestrians hit by vehicles on state roads over the weekend, including a 34-year-old man who died after being hit by a bus in Leumeah early yesterday morning,” it says, going on >>>
Harold Scruby, of the Pedestrian Council of Australia, said research into deaths resulting from people not paying attention to traffic while using mobile devices was scant in NSW.
” ‘Death by iPod’ is a relatively new phenomenon so it may be slow in showing up because it can sometimes be a year between the fatality and the coroner’s finding,’ he said. ‘But we should be asking ourselves why are total road deaths declining while pedestrian fatalities continue to escalate? Maybe listening devices could be part of the explanation’.”
To educate the public, “the Pedestrian Council’s ‘lambs to the slaughter – wait for the green’ campaign features “a group of pedestrians wearing sheep heads and listening to mobiles and iPods has appeared in newspapers and a billboard”, says The Age, which has Scruby stating:
“The government is quite happy to legislate that people can lose two demerit points for having music up too loud in their cars, but is apparently unconcerned that listening devices now appear to have become lethal pieces of entertainment. They should legislate appropriate penalties for people acting so carelessly towards their own welfare and that of others.
“Manufacturers … should be made to [warn] consumers of the risks they run.”
… and identi.ca
The Age – Pedestrian death rise blamed on iPod, September 6, 2010
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