In 2017 alone, pedestrian injuries killed over 6400 Americans and injured approximately 200,000. Alarmingly, pedestrian injury and death rates are currently increasing, raising concern that some set of behavioral and environmental factors has created increased injury risk. The skyrocketing use of smartphones by both drivers and pedestrians is hypothesized as a factor. While stakeholders have attended somewhat to distracted driving behavior, attention to distracted pedestrian behavior has lagged. Research suggests distracted pedestrians have markedly increased injury risk compared to undistracted pedestrians.
We posit interdisciplinary interventions using technology to alter behavior will reduce distracted pedestrian behavior. Leveraging previous work on smart mobile and Internet of Things technology, and on distracted pedestrian behavior, we advocate for a mostly-passive injury prevention intervention, StreetBit, whereby distracted pedestrians receive smartphone-based warnings when they reach dangerous street crossings.

This project specifically proposes to (1) identify and understand distracted pedestrian behavior through observational studies at multiple Birmingham, Alabama locations; and (2) extend and evaluate StreetBit, an app that receives signals from Bluetooth beacons placed at street corners, causing smartphone screens to warn users to divert attention to street-crossing rather than the distracting smartphone.

To accomplish these goals, we will partner with the City of Birmingham and University of Alabama at Birmingham Police and Facilities Departments. Our work will prepare us for an integrative proposal by establishing and strengthening partnerships with community partners, performing observational studies to identify dangerous intersections plus the extent and nature of distracted behavior at those intersections, and augmenting and improving StreetBit for broad testing.

Intellectual Merit: In this planning project, we will: (a) innovate, improve, and extend the StreetBit app; (b) establish, build and strengthen community partnerships; and (c) gather detailed observational data about distracted pedestrian behavior in multiple urban settings.
Broader Impacts: We will achieve broader impacts by: (a) conducting research to improve health through reduced pedestrian injuries and fatalities; (b) training graduate and undergraduate students, including those from underrepresented groups; (c) building capacity to serve the community, including the large local African-American population; and (d) conducting interdisciplinary collaborative basic scientific research with a clear pathway to applied translation into practice.