{"id":3301,"date":"2015-03-20T23:40:50","date_gmt":"2015-03-20T23:40:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=3301"},"modified":"2016-08-25T03:38:03","modified_gmt":"2016-08-25T03:38:03","slug":"how-texting-turns-you-into-a-walking-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/how-texting-turns-you-into-a-walking-disaster\/","title":{"rendered":"How texting turns you into a walking disaster"},"content":{"rendered":"

Siobhan Schabrun<\/a>, University of Western Sydney<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

For most of us, walking in a straight line at reasonable speed is a simple task. But watch someone texting or reading on their mobile phone and you\u2019d be forgiven for thinking that walking is not as easy as it looks.<\/p>\n

People who text and walk (\u201cwexting\u201d) are not only a source of irritation to those of us stuck behind a slow, weaving wexter. Wexting may also put you at risk of injury and \u2013 according to our study<\/a> published today in PLOS ONE<\/a> \u2013 even changes your style of walking.<\/p>\n

Wexting? Mind that fountain \u2026 or train \u2026<\/h2>\n

The dangers of texting while driving are well known<\/a>, but the impact of texting on walking is only beginning to gain attention.<\/p>\n

Much of this interest has been generated by media reports of wexters who wander into fountains, onto train tracks<\/a>, or recently in St Kilda, off a pier<\/a> (and although the woman in question couldn\u2019t swim, she did manage to hold onto her phone until rescued).<\/p>\n

Mind that fountain!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In addition, the number of pedestrians killed or injured in traffic is rising and texting while walking is bearing the brunt of the blame<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But, despite speculation that using a mobile phone while walking might be hazardous, few studies have examined the impact of mobile phone use on walking.<\/p>\n

Walk like a robot<\/h2>\n

Our study used a 3D movement analysis system to examine how people walk while texting or reading on a mobile phone. We asked 26 healthy individuals (with an average age of 30 years), who used their mobile phone to text on a daily basis, to walk in a straight line in one of the following ways:<\/p>\n