People distracted by pets or children were almost three times as likely to skip looking both ways.
Nearly 80 percent of the pedestrians observed were walking alone, and the large majority obeyed the lights and crossed at the crosswalk.
Most of those distracted by mobile devices were listening to music (about 11 percent), with more than 7 percent textingand more than 6 percent talking or listening on a handheld phone.
Female pedestrians, whether distracted or not, were somewhat less likely to look both ways while crossing the street.
"This isn't rocket science," Ebel said. "To be completely honest, many of us do it ourselves. I do not, because I've seen enough of this. But I guess I challenge us all to think what we can do."
