17% of pedestrians distracted by the use of their smartphone

Today we are more than 24 million French to own a smartphone and nearly a third to use it while driving. And with regard to pedestrians, what are the figures? According to a study carried out by DEKRA * , vehicle control centers, in six European capitals, 17% of pedestrians in large cities are said to be behaving at risk with their smartphones: writing SMS and music would be the main causes of distraction . No wonder, then, that 25-35-year-olds turn out to be the most dangerous behavior when walking on the street, their smartphone in their hands. Since it is impossible to simultaneously look at the road and its telephone screen, Clemens Klinke, member of the board of directors of DEKRA, says that "making calls, listening to music, using mobile applications and sending SMS are distractions may pose risks to traffic ".

1 in 10 fatal accidents caused by the behavior of a pedestrian

According to figures from the European Commission (given on its own site), pedestrians represent 21% of road victims in the European Union. And almost half of these cases involve pedestrians who do not pay attention to cars. DEKRA's recommendation is full of common sense: "When a person is in traffic as a pedestrian, he must remain fully focused on trafficking for his own safety," explains Nicolas Bouvier, CEO. In general, whether you are a motorist or pedestrian, the danger of the smartphone remains the same, let's be vigilant!

* The accident research department of the DEKRA group carried out this survey with 13,822 pedestrians from 30/06/2014 to 03/07/2014.