Study: Tuned-out pedestrians in serious danger

TAMPA - Whether you jog, walk or bike, chances are you’ve seen it before: Someone walking – headphones in – tuned out from the world.

"I wear them all the time to ignore everything that's in my surroundings, so I can concentrate and focus on one thing." 15-year-old Victoria Freitas said.

Lots of others would say at some point they’ve done it, too.

And those people are getting hurt more than ever before, according to new data.

A new study shows serious injuries to people walking and wearing headphones have more than tripled over the last six years.

That's what happened on Florida Avenue in Tampa.

Police say a man who was hit had his headphones on and just walked into the street. Detectives say the pickup driver who hit him didn't have time to react.

In many cases, researchers from the University of Maryland say people are hit by a car or train that sounded its horn. In 70 percent of cases, the headphone-wearing pedestrians died as a result of the injuries.

But they never heard the horns because of their headphones.

"It's not really that shocking because I know a lot of people don't pay attention when their music's up,” 14-year-old Toni Ward said.

Ward and her mom said they keep the headphones on in one ear and leave the other uncovered so they don't block out what's going on around them.

But they see lots of other folks who don't.

"They're not paying attention. They can't hear you. You can say 'excuse me,' and they just keep going, and then you realize they have headphones on," Sandra Ward said.

And more often than not, researchers say, teens are the ones wearing the headphones.

"My mom always tells me don't ever turn up your music all the way up because cars are coming by, but I never listen." Freitas said.

And until they do, researchers say they're more likely to get hurt.

"Everybody is aware of the risk of cell phones and texting in automobiles, but I see more and more teens distracted with the latest devices and headphones in their ears," lead author Dr. Richard Lichenstein said. "Unfortunately, as we make more and more enticing devices, the risk of injury from distraction and blocking out other sounds increases."