Watch out, headphone may cost your life

London: Researchers have found a dramatic rise in injuries to people using headphones while walking on the streets and have warned of serious accidents involving pedestrians using electronic devices, such as iPods and mobile phones.


There is rising concern about the near trance-like state people can apparently enter while using mobile phones, MP3 players or electronic personal organisers, the Daily Mail reported.


Psychologists view it as "divided attention" or "in-attentional blindness".


The research, published in the Injury Prevention journal, analysed US data taken from US National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Google news archives and a university research database between 2004 to last year on injuries to pedestrians using headphones.


Cases involving mobile phones, including hands-free, or cyclists were excluded.


There were a total of 116 reports of death or injury, jumping from 16 in 2004-05 to 47 in 2010-11 during the study period. In a total of 81 of the 116 collisions, 70 percent led to person's death. In a quarter of the cases a warning such as a horn or siren was sounded before the crash.