Study reveals dangers of distracted student walkers

A national study by the group "Safe Kids Worldwide" says it is seeing high numbers of unsafe street crossings in school zones. The report found that 17 percent of middle school students and 27 percent

News 12 Staff

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Oct 28, 2016, 2:20 AM

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Updated 2,897 days ago

A national study by the group "Safe Kids Worldwide" says it is seeing high numbers of unsafe street crossings in school zones.

The report found that 17 percent of middle school students and 27 percent of high school students were distracted by using some kind of mobile device while walking.

The study found that 44 percent of distracted teens were wearing headphones, 31 percent were texting, 18 percent were talking on their cellphones and 7 percent were doing a combination of the three.

Kristie Ladowski, the injury prevention coordinator for Stony Brook Trauma Center, says drivers are also distracted in school zones during busy pick-up and drop-off times.

"Throughout Suffolk County, we do have a 20 mph speed limit, but unfortunately we know not everyone is following that," says Ladowski.