"In the US alone last year more than 5000 pedestrians were killed on the roads and there were 70,000 pedestrian injuries involving motor vehicle collisions. Distraction – and texting in particular - has been identified as a key risk factor, with studies showing that cell phone use impairs pedestrian and driver attention. So Pooya Rahimian and researchers at the University of Iowa are trying to come up with warning systems on our cell phones that can help pedestrians cross safely. One such system uses the kind of technology that is used in driverless cars, which can detect and locate every car in the vicinity. It sends an audio cue to texting pedestrians if they are about to walk out in front of a car. The results of the experiment have just been published in the journal Human Factors."