January 17, 2012 10:34 pm EDT

Headphone-wearing pedestrian injuries triple as audiophiles stop noticing onrushing trains

The number of pedestrians injured or killed while wearing headphones has tripled in the last six years: 16 oblivious PMP users were offed in 2004, the number rising to 47 for last year. The research, carried out by Dr Richard Lichenstein at the University of Maryland found that headphone wearers became "inattentionally blind" to dangers such as passing cars and on-rushing trains. That's not us being flip either: 55 percent of the incidents involved locomotives. The majority of victims were male (68 percent) and under the age of 30 (67 percent): which puts your average Engadget reader in the center of the danger zone -- take it from us guys: sometimes it's better to press pause, "Baby, baby" will still be there when you've crossed the railway.

Headphone-wearing pedestrian injuries triple as audiophiles stop noticing onrushing trains originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original Link: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/17/headphone-wearing-pedestrian-injuries-triple-as-audiophiles-stop/

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