The United States Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Office of Behavioral Safety Research has published a literature review on the effect of portable electronic device use by motorists and pedestrians on pedestrian safety.

The review features three sections: pedestrian distraction, driver distraction, and pedestrian-vehicle interactions. Within each section, findings were divided into several subsections based on  methodologies used in the studies – such as naturalistic observations, simulation, laboratory, and crash database analysis.

The review shows a limited number of studies have investigated the effects of electronic device use by pedestrians and drivers related to pedestrian safety. Additionally, fewer naturalistic observation studies have been conducted.