Who is most likely to be distracted? We used logistic regression models to determine whether any of the observed factors resulted in increased odds of distraction. Data was collected on a variety of factors, such as whether the student was walking in the morning or the afternoon, the gender of the student, and whether there was a crossing guard present. For the regression models, we used data from 44 middle schools and 20 high schools. We found that the odds of a girl crossing the street distracted are 1.2 times greater than the odds for a boy. Overall, 17 percent of girls were distracted, compared to 14 percent of boys. Previous research found that teen girls more often use their phones for internet access than boys: a survey of teens found that 34 percent of teen girls ages 14-17 say they mostly go online using their cell phone, compared to 24 percent of boys of the same age.9 While girls were more likely to be crossing the street distracted, boys have almost twice the death rate from fatal pedestrian crashes. The pedestrian death rate for boys ages 13-19 was 1.8 times that of girls of that age (Figure 5). More research is needed to explain the differences between the risk for girls and boys. Figure 5. Girls are more likely to be distracted, but the pedestrian death rate is 1.8 times higher for boys.
18%
Percent of Students Distracted
2011 Death Rate per 100,000
16%
1.4 1.2
14%
1.0
12% 10%
0.8
8%
0.6
6%
0.4
4%
0.2
2% 0%
Boys 14%
Girls 17%
Boys 1.26
Girls 0.69
0
We also found that the odds of a student being distracted are 26 percent higher if there is a traffic light device present. Teens and pre-teens may be more willing to take risks when they perceive their surroundings are safe. This is known as risk compensation: the idea that as safety solutions are engineered to reduce the number and severity of accidents, people may actually take more risks.13 Teens may look at a road with a traffic light and decide that it is safe to cross, even while distracted by a phone or headphones. We didn’t see a statistically significant difference in distraction between the fall and spring periods. In fact, the observations in the spring and fall were very similar—in the fall, 15.9 percent of students were observed distracted, compared to 15.4 percent in the spring.
An In-Depth Look at Teens’ Walking Behaviors
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