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A 16 year old in Tampa thought so.  According to police she was walking across a busy road when she dropped her iPod, not realizing it until she reached the other side.  She immediately ran back into the road to retrieve it and was run over by a truck.

She’s now at a local hospital in stable condition and being treated for a broken leg.  Smart?  Hardly.  No piece of electronics is worth risking your life for.  It’s a good example of how distracted and downright careless our gadgets can make us. 

I’ve seen teens walk out into the middle of a busy intersection while texting, totally oblivious to the world around them, as a pedestrian myself I’ve nearly been run over a couple of times by someone so involved in the conversation they were having on their cell phone that they never bothered to notice the light had turned red and the walk signal was on.  Of course I never got an apology, just angry stares and the occasional one finger salute.

Just 2 weeks ago in Boston two MBTA trolleys collided because one of the conductors was busy texting his girlfriend and never saw the red light.  He sent 50 people to the hospital.  Even worse, another train operator whose priority was texting rather than doing his job caused a derailment that killed him and 25 others.  When are people going to learn?

We’d like to know what the kind of stupid or dangerous things you’ve seen people distracted by gadgets do.  Leave a comment and share your best stories!  They may even make it into a future article.  In the meantime, play it safe and stay alert out there!

Read [CNet]