As the mobile world transitioned from feature phones to smartphones, the chances of being injured by your device increased. You may now be asking are smartphones dangerous? Well, it seems humans are the reason accidents involving mobile devices have increased.
According to a new study, the release of the original iPhone ushered in a new era of smartphones, therefore making devices more dangerous. Distractions are the main problem because smartphones send notifications for social media, emails, alerts, alarms, and more.
New research suggests the number of mobile-related accidents has increased since 2007, most importantly because of smartphones. That’s according to information from the new study, which was published in the JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery journal.
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According to the study’s author, the transition of technology was singificant. Boris Paskhover, a head and neck surgeon at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, points to the development of mobile technology. As such, smartphones are mobile platforms and not just phones.
Because of their limited features, old phones had less distracting tools. Inturn, this meant people didn’t get into as many accidents. Certainly, the smartphone brought plenty of changes. Paskhover says people simply stopped paying attention, and consequently do not see what happens around them.
Are Smartphones Dangerous?
To sum up, in the study the researchers checked the cellphone related head injuries between 1998 and 2017 from the National Electronic Surveillance System (NEISS) database. NEISS provides access to injury data from emergency departments across 100 hospitals in the United States.
Image: PixabayWith the data, Paskhover and his team extrapolated the results to estimate the total number of cell phone-related injuries across the U.S. For instance, the team believes there have been around 76,000 injuries nationwide over the timeframe.
Paskhover believes injuries may be even higher as his team only looked at injuries to the head and neck.
“It’s severely underreported. If someone is walking down the street and they drip and fall, they’re not going to say that they were being a schmuck and looking at their phone. They just say they tripped and fell.”
But, is it wise to ask are smartphones dangerous? Let us know in the comments below what you think.
