Are you an iPod zombie? AA warns of dangers of electronic devices

Have you experienced iPod oblivion? No, it's not the new ride at Alton Towers, it's the zombie-like state that users of iPods and other personal electronic devices achieve, putting their lives in danger, according to the AA.

The AA, best known for its roadside recovery service, is using its insurance arm to issue a warning to drivers, after it noted that what it is calling 'podestrians' (clever, huh?) are a growing factor in road accidents. Ipod oblivion is the term the AA has coined to describe the absorbed state of pedestrians and even drivers who are hooked up to their iPods, and consequently not engaging fully with the world around them.

And it's not just MP3 players that are causing problems, according to the AA. Whether you're updating your Facebook status on your iPhone, fiddling with your satnav to try to figure out where you are, checking your emails or just listening to music, you're not concentrating on what's going on around you, and that can be dangerous - whether you're walking or, worse, driving.

"When on the move our brains have much to take in and using technological gadgets means that our brains can't always concentrate on so many things at once. This is when we walk into traffic, don't hear the truck or drive cocooned from the outside world,"  said AA president Edmund King.