London - A quarter of schoolchildren admit paying more attention to their smartphone than traffic when crossing the road.
Their eyes are more likely to be glued to a screen than watching out for oncoming cars that could kill or injure them, a road safety report warns.
The danger is set to increase as more children bring electronic gadgets to school.
Research carried out by AXA car insurance shows 75 per cent of 12-year-olds take a mobile phone to school every day, rising to 95 per cent for 16-year-old pupils.
And almost 23 per cent of children admit they have been distracted when crossing a road on the way to school.
Nearly one in five pupils said they have to cross five or more roads every day during the journey.
Mobile phones are the most common gadget taken to school by children, closely followed by MP3 music players and tablet devices.
Among pupils’ top distractions on the walk to and from school were listening to music, which 61 per cent said they had done, or exchanging text messages, which occupied 60 per cent.
More than a third of schoolchildren spend the daily walk to lessons updating Facebook, while almost as many make or receive phone calls, and more than one in five browse the Internet.
According to AXA’s report, the average age at which children first own a mobile phone is 11.
But children aged 11-12 are most at risk of road accidents and account for a third of all child pedestrians killed or seriously injured during journeys to and from school.
The report said: ‘With more than four million mobile phones being taken into schools every day, we are warning parents and children to be more vigilant and to limit mobile phone use when travelling to and from school.’
James Barclay, of AXA Insurance, said: ‘Our findings show that technology could be having an impact on road safety for our children?…?
‘It’s important for both children and motorists to be aware of this growing phenomenon – otherwise child casualty rates will inevitably increase.’
Adrian Walsh, of charity RoadSafe, said: ‘Research in the US has revealed that a significant portion of pedestrian casualties can be attributed to the use of mobile technology.’
He added: ‘Applying the specific findings to our streets means that some 200 people a year could be pedestrian casualties as a result of using mobile technology.’
Daily Mail