Beware (1). There is a new danger on the streets. And you might not spot (2) it (6) until it’s too late.

Pedestrians wearing iPod or MP3 (7) music player headphones (9) have a habit of stepping (14) out into the road, oblivious to traffic.

‘Podestrians’, as they (8) have been called, now account for nearly one in ten minor accidents involving sudden braking and shunts (12), according to ________ from an insurance company.

Well over half of the ________ are described as young people, teenagers or children (11).

‘We (10) have seen a significant increase in drivers citing (3) such individuals as having been a factor in accidents’, a spokesman for the company said.

The most common ________ involves a ‘podestrian’ stepping into the road without looking (13) properly and failing (4) to hear an oncoming (15) vehicle.

This can force the driver to brake suddenly, risking collision with the car behind.

And if a head full of music isn’t bad enough, some podestrians are talking (16) on their mobile phones at the same time.

’The problem of music players masking (5) the noise of cars can often be compounded (19) by the simultaneous use of mobile phones’, the spokesman said.

‘People have enjoyed listening (17) to music on foot ever since the first Walkmans were introduced in the late 1970s. But 30 years on there seems to be a rising (18) number of pedestrians who are isolated from traffic noise’.

(Adaptado de: Daily Mail, 8 out. 2008.)

De acordo com o texto,