Hang up and walk, researchers suggest

Published 4:51 pm Thursday, November 25, 2010

Using a cell phone while driving is known to be risky behavior, and you might want to add walking to the dangers.

University researchers in Illinois observed 36 college-age subjects outfitted with a cellphone, an iPod or nothing as they walked on a treadmill in a virtual environment meant to simulate a busy two-lane street. Their study found that cell phone talkers were much more distracted, crossed the street more slowly and didn’t look around as much.

“Although it is unclear at this point whether this impairment can manifest in increased pedestrian- automobile accidents,” the researchers wrote, “our data do suggest that there is at least a strong possibility that decision-making processes, such as those associated with identifying and acting on safe cross opportunities, are impaired.”

The Washington Post