US pedestrian death surge linked to phones

US pedestrian deaths rose sharply for the second year in a row in 2016, according to a study, a trend experts said mirrors increased driver mobile phone use and distracted driving.

Last year saw an 11 per cent rise in pedestrian deaths over 2015, making it the largest increase in the 40 years that national records have been kept, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.

This followed a 9.5 per cent increase in 2015.

The study's author, Richard Retting, called the results "frankly quite startling," adding that "there's clearly something happening. This is not a one-off."

Retting said he viewed the surge as largely attributable to mobile use, saying while it was statistically difficult to rule out other causes entirely, the coinciding rise in deaths and phone use suggests a connection.

None of the other factors typically affecting pedestrian deaths - such as population growth, yearly miles driven and walked in the US - tracked the rise as closely as mobile use.

Retting said wireless data use on phones had risen dramatically, with a doubling of the amount of mobile data used in the US and a 45 per cent increase in the number of multimedia messages sent in 2014/15.

The use of mobile phones while driving is permitted in some US states.