These days, people have distractions even when they are not behind the wheel of a vehicle.
Police in Guelph are warning that while people might be able to walk and chew bubble gum at the same time, they are not as adept in walking and using their cell phones.
Sergeant Douglas Pflug reported that researchers are finding people are being seriously injured from accidents because they are not paying attention to where they are walking.
The examples come from all over, and Pflug would like to prevent them happening in this area.
He reported that in January last year, a woman from Pennsylvania became a YouTube hit after she was caught on security cameras falling into a water feature inside a shopping mall.
“You should reconsider adding texting and cell phone conversations to your ambulatory repertoire, a new study warns,” he said.
Scientists at Stony Brook University in New York have found that using a cell phone to talk or text while walking can disrupt one’s gait to such a degree as to cause accidents.
“The study relates that using a cell phone while walking is so distracting that people are likely to miss a clown riding a unicycle. And yes, this is the result of real research, which involved mostly college-age students walking across a main campus square while a real clown performed. The research also found cell-phone users walk slower and weave about more than others.”
The research will be published in the December issue of the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology. Visit: http://bit.ly/miCyeH for full study details.
