A new study shows that walking and listening to music can be much more dangerous for pedestrians than originally thought.

The number of headphone-wearing pedestrians seriously injured or killed has tripled in six years. In dozens of those cases, horns or sirens were used before the victims were hit.

The University of Maryland study highlights the dangers of using music players with headphones.

The risk of using mobile phones and other devices while driving is well documented, but little is known about the distraction associated with wearing headphones while walking.

The Harrisonburg police spokesperson said that doing anything will distracted in or near traffic is always a bad idea.

“When you have earphones in, even if the volume is turned down low, you can still be distracted, and you’re still not going to hear everything that is going on around you, so it’s a really good idea to make sure you’re paying attention to traffic patterns,” said Public Information Officer Mary Hope.

Of the 116 cases studied, more than a third of the people were younger than eighteen. Two-thirds were under thirty.