The ultimate interruption: Distracted Walking.  In how many of the death's reported below might a pedestrian on a cell phone been involved?

from the Wall Street Journal: Nationwide, pedestrian-vehicle fatalities have been rising in recent years after decades of decline. Though some experts caution that it may be too early to call it a trend, the increases are giving urgency to efforts by transportation experts and urban planners to make American cities safer for walking.

In 1975, more than 7,500 pedestrians were killed in traffic accidents across the US. By 2009, the figure dropped to a low of 4,109. But in 2011, U.S. Department of Transportation figures indicated a rise to 4,432, amounting to 14% of all traffic deaths that year, which totaled 32,367.