Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Traffic Safety Culture Research Institute Analysis
Higher Proportion of Smartphone Use While Walking on Weekdays Than on Holidays
An analysis has found that half of children use smartphones while walking.
On May 30, the Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Traffic Safety Culture Research Institute conducted a children's pedestrian safety campaign using the pedestrian safety application 'Walk Buddy' with 435 children from 17 elementary schools nationwide. As a result, 54% of the children received warning notifications for using smartphones while walking.
The average number of warning notifications received per day was 4.9 per child. On weekdays, the average number of warnings was 5.6, which is 1.51 times higher than on holidays (3.7).
According to a study conducted by the institute in 2017, using a smartphone reduces visual ability, resulting in a 15% decrease in forward attention rate and a 56% reduction in field of vision. Auditory ability is also impaired, with the distance at which forward sounds can be detected decreasing by 50%. Due to reduced recognition of destinations, the deviation in left-right walking trajectory increases by 8%.
When a warning alarm was triggered due to smartphone use while walking, most children either stopped walking or turned off the screen to deactivate the alarm. In 86% of all warning alarm cases, action was taken within 5 seconds.
The number of warning alarms triggered by smartphone use while walking gradually decreased over time. The average number of alarms per day dropped from 6.5 on the first day of app installation to 5 after three weeks, a decrease of 22.8%. This suggests that children's unconscious habit of using smartphones while walking improved through the use of the pedestrian safety app.
However, since the COVID-19 endemic, the number of traffic accidents involving children while walking has been increasing, requiring special attention. In 2023, the number of child pedestrian accident casualties was 2,694, a 26.2% increase compared to 2020. In contrast, the number of adult casualties decreased by 4.9% over the same period.
Lim Chae-hong, a senior researcher at the Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Traffic Safety Culture Research Institute, said, "As smartphone usage rates have increased, so has the frequency of sending messages or watching videos while walking. If dangerous habits are formed, it takes a lot of effort and time to correct them, so it is most important to establish a culture of safe walking from an early age."
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