Pedestrian death rise blamed on iPods

Death by iPod is being blamed as a contributing factor to the 25 per cent rise in the number of pedestrian fatalities in NSW. The ''iPod zombie trance'' people get into when walking, driving or pedalling around listening to their mobile devices is being blamed for an increase in collisions and even deaths in Europe and the US.

The issue has been highlighted in Sydney by the death of a 46-year-old Glebe woman reportedly wearing headphones when she was knocked down and killed by an ambulance on Saturday night. There is speculation she might not have heard the ambulance siren when crossing Parramatta Road at Mallett Street at Camperdown. She was one of at least six pedestrians hit by vehicles on state roads over the weekend, including a 34-year-old man who died after being hit by a bus in Leumeah early yesterday morning.

Although the number of people killed on NSW roads so far this calendar year has dropped, pedestrian deaths have climbed by 25 per cent to 53, compared to 44 for the same period last year. Harold Scruby, of the Pedestrian Council of Australia, said research into deaths resulting from people not paying attention to traffic while using mobile devices was scant in NSW.