Danger from just going and texting

Walking while texting can help you stay in touch, but it will affect your balance and put you at risk of serious injury, according to a new study.

Australian researchers have followed the body movements of young men and women when they try to walk in a straight line. Volunteers are required to walk 9 meters in three times, once without a mobile phone, once while reading a message and once while composing a message.

The results show that people's gait changes clearly when using a phone, in which composing messages has a greater effect than just reading messages. Texting slows them down, deflects and moves their heads from side to side. Volunteers also form a distinctive posture when stretching to keep the eyes from the screen.

People often create robot postures while walking while texting.(Photo: Corbis)

Researcher Siobhan Schabrun of the University of Queensland explains: "We found, people were walking in a robot-like position. To keep their eyes steady on the phone, they" locked "their arms, torso and The head is intended to assist in maintaining the phone in sight, so there are fewer movements between body parts, while we know from previous research that body movement is less will put you at greater risk of falling. "

Writing in PLoS ONE, Ms. Schabrun added that the high concentration on composing messages and moving their heads from side to side can affect balance. Statistics in recent years have shown that there are many cases of people with traffic accidents, stumbling or sliding into railroad tracks, fountains or piers because they are texting while walking. The number of pedestrian-related accidents also increased and texting was one of the main culprits.

Understanding Schabrun, understanding the change of walking while using a mobile phone can help us find strategies to reduce accidents and injuries. The researcher supports education, raising people's awareness of potential dangers while on the go. However, in the United States, police in Fort Lee, New Jersey state have manipulated a troubling law when walking to punish dangerous pedestrian pedestrians.