The InformationWeek -- Blogs
Over The Air

Mobility Breifing Center -- Sponsored by Windows Mobile
Topics:   Mobile

  • Email this page E-mail this page
  • Print this page Print this page
  • Bookmark and Share
  • icon

Study: Brits Text While Walking, Hit Faces On Lamp Posts


Posted by Eric Zeman, Mar 5, 2008 12:28 PM

I am not making this up. Apparently Brits are so focused on texting that they become completely unaware of their surroundings. In fact, 6 million of them were injured last year after walking into lamp posts, bollards, and garbage cans on the sidewalk. Does texting while walking need to be banned next?

This is just hilarious. More than one in 10 people in the U.K. suffered from "walk and text" wounds last year. Those included everything from simple bruises to broken noses and fractured skulls. The results didn't mention anything about the egregious wounds suffered to your ego from looking like a complete idiot.

The study also revealed that a whopping 63% of texters admit to concentrating so intently that they lose track of what's going on around them. London's Brick Lane area is taking the drastic step of installing protective pads on lamp posts to prevent injuries.

The study was conducted by phone directory service company 118118. More results showed that 25% of the 1,055 people polled supported "mobile lanes", which would be designated for those walking and texting/talking at the same time. Close your eyes and picture this for a moment. Imagine a few dozen people all weaving and meandering down the same stretch of sidewalk, bumping into one another, all distracted by the mobile device being held inches from their eyes. It's a scene right out of a Monty Python sketch.

One conclusion agreed to by many is that "Britons are clearly text addicts, so we need to make sure they are protected on the streets."

It appears that people lose all common sense when it comes to their mobile phones. Padding lamp posts isn't going to bring it back.

« ETech: K-Factor's Social Network For Social Network Developers | Main | Microsoft's Office Live Workspace, You're No Google Apps »



Sign up now for the weekly InformationWeek Blog Newsletter.


This is a public forum. United Business Media and its affiliates are not responsible for and do not control what is posted herein. United Business Media makes no warranties or guarantees concerning any advice dispensed by its staff members or readers.

Community standards in this comment area do not permit hate language, excessive profanity, or other patently offensive language. Please be aware that all information posted to this comment area becomes the property of United Business Media LLC and may be edited and republished in print or electronic format as outlined in United Business Media's Terms of Service.

Important Note: This comment area is NOT intended for commercial messages or solicitations of business.