Forget the grisly effects of texting while driving for a moment, if you can. Instead, focus on a new epidemic, one that’s admittedly much sillier than the driving one, but no less dangerous. Ladies and gents, meet texting while walking: Slightly more than 1,000 pedestrians visited emergency rooms in 2008 because they got distracted and tripped, fell or ran into something while using a cellphone to talk or text. That was twice the number from 2007, which had nearly doubled from 2006, according to a study conducted by Ohio State University, which says it is the first to estimate such accidents. [ New York Times ] Yes, folks, the situation is so bad that there are now studies on it. There are reports of concussions, sprained ankles and broken appendages, not to mention the countless number of people who hurt nothing but their pride by walking into a parked car and never went to an ER (happens all the time, apparently).

Original Source of Study Suggests There’s a "Texting While Walking" Epidemic Too [Texting]