Texting and Walking More Dangerous Than We Think

In the UK they have begun padding lamp posts to protect people from texting and walking, or what experts call distracted walking. (eliciabuzz)

Don’t do it.  Today I witnessed someone go down hard –   and I mean hard.  While in a serious text convo a young girl was so focused on her text she failed to watch where she was walking and walked right onto a large patch of ice.  She fell dramatically and while she was down she somehow managed to keep texting!!  Luckily she was ok.

While walking from class to class I notice people talking on the phone to pass the time – it’s very common and doesn’t cause many problems.  However,  texting and walking can cause all sorts of chaos.

“Slightly more than 1,000 pedestrians visited emergency rooms in 2008 because they got distracted and tripped, fell or ran into something while using a cellphone to talk or text. That was twice the number from 2007, which had nearly doubled from 2006, according to a study conducted by Ohio State University, which says it is the first to estimate such accidents.” (The New York Times)

I’ve texted and walked many times myself and often times find myself walking near mail boxes, fire hydrants, and other pedestrians.  I am lucky that nothing serious has happened to me.

Everyone should be aware of how dangerous this actually is.

“A 14-year-old boy in Florida died Monday after walking in front on an oncoming car while sending a text message on his cell phone. Christopher Cepeda’s three friends noticed the car as they were trying to cross a highway near Orlando, but Cepeda, apparently distracted by his cell phone, did not, and stepped into the roadway.” (CBS News)

Here is a public service announcement about the new epidemic.

Here are some related text stories.

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1724522,00.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34903338/ns/technology_and_science-the_new_york_times/

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/AheadoftheCurve/story?id=5867658&page=1