MIAMI VALLEY-- A new study released by Safe Kids Worldwide and Safe Kids Greater Dayton shows 40% of teenagers have been hit, or nearly hit, by a car because of "distracted walking"
I see it every day," said fifteen year old Emmy Stephens, "People just walking, not looking up when they're crossing the street."
The Oakwood High School freshman walks two blocks to and from school every day.
"Instagram, music is the main thing when you're walking, or even just texting," Stephens said. She's usually careful watching for traffic when crossing during her route, but that's not the case for almost half of her peers according to the new study.
"We hear a lot about distracted driving but unfortunately we're seeing thousands and thousands of teens every year being hit by cars because they're distracted while they're walking," said Jessica Saunders of Safe Kids Greater Dayton and Dayton Children's Hospital.
Dayton Children's treated 22 juveniles hit by cars during a six month period in 2013.
The Safe Kids Worldwide study finds distraction from mobile devices is to blame for at least half those cases.
"We were doing really good at pedestrian accidents, seeing the numbers go down, and now we're seeing the numbers rise again," Saunders said, "And the real thing that has changed is that we have introduced smart phones and earbuds and lot more electronic devices that really take our time away from what we should be concentrating on."
Safe Kids Greater Dayton has advice for parents to teach kids to put down their phones and put safety first:
1. Take a "moment of silence" before crossing the street to pay true attention to the situation.
2. Remove earbuds, put devices to "sleep"
3. Make eye contact with drivers before crossing
4. Wear light and reflective clothing to be highly visible to drivers, especially when it's not full daylight.
