Driving? Texting While Walking Is Also Hazardous

We know texting while driving is dangerous.

But we are beginning to learn that as a productivity enhancement, multi-tasking is overrated. And texting while walking, which may make us feel like we are being ever so efficient by accomplishing two tasks at once, actually slows us down.

Maybe being productive was never the point. It just made us feel better about behaving heedlessly when we felt like it. And anyway, justification was so 20th Century. JL

Om Malik reports in GigaOm:

It is not a surprise that when you walk and text, you see a massive drop in viewing your surroundings, but did you know that when are walking and texting or talking on the phone at the same time, your speed of walking declines by a whopping 16%? Well that is the finding of a study from the Stonybrook University. The study was conducted by Eric Lamberg and Lisa Muratori who studied 33 participants and was reported in the Gait & Posture. In a news release, Lamberg noted:

We were surprised to find that talking and texting on a cell phone were so disruptive to one’s gait and memory recall of the target location,” says Eric M. Lamberg, PT, EdD, co-author of the study and Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Physical Therapy, School of Health Technology and Management, Stony Brook University.

Although walking seems automatic, areas in the brain controlling executive function and attention are necessary for walking. Dr. Lamberg says that the significant reductions in velocity and difficulty maintaining course indicates cell phone use and texting impacts working memory of these tasks.
Sure it is only 33 participants and needs more study, but still! While I can understand the texting being a massive distraction — that’s why we’re seeing gadgets that disable non-hands-free smartphone activities while driving — I was amazed at the decline in walking speed.