Young people more likely to fall over when texting while walking: study

By Stephen Beech via SWNS

Young people really are more likely to fall over when texting while walking, according to a new study.

And the quality of text messages are not so good when typed while on the move, showing the findings of the novel research.

Experts have been divided until now over whether texting while walking increases the risk of an accident for young adults glued to their smartphones,

Some studies have shown that texting pedestrians are more likely to walk into oncoming traffic, while other research suggests that young adults have mastered the art of multitasking and are able to text accurately while navigating obstacles.

But few studies previously have measured how texters respond to unpredictable hazards.

Now, by simulating an environment with random slipping threats, Australian scientists have shown that texting does increase the risk of falling in response to walkway hazards.

Senior author Doctor Matthew Brodie, a neuroscientist and engineer at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), said: “On any day it seems as many as 80 per cent of people, both younger and older, may be head down and texting.

"I wondered: 'is this safe?' This has made me want to investigate the dangers of texting while walking.

"I wanted to know if these dangers are real or imagined and to measure the risk in a repeatable way.”

The researchers recruited 50 UNSW undergraduate students for the experiment.

Dr. Brodie and co-author Dr. Yoshiro Okubo invented a tiled hazard walkway at Neuroscience Research Australia’s gait laboratory, which halfway through had a tile that could be adjusted to slide out of place.

Anyone who stepped on it would slip as if on a banana peel.

The participating students wore a safety harness - preventing any slip from becoming a fall - and sensors that collected their motion data.

They were then asked to go along the walkway either without texting or while typing “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.”

To better simulate the uncertainty of real life, students were only told that they may or may not slip, allowing the researchers to study how texting pedestrians might anticipate and try to prevent a potential slip, such as by leaning forward.

Dr. Brodie said: “What surprised me is how differently people responded to the threat of slipping.

“Some slowed down and took a more cautious approach. Others sped up in anticipation of slipping.

"Such different approaches reinforce how no two people are the same, and to better prevent accidents from texting while walking, multiple strategies may be needed.”

Despite motion data showing that texting participants tried to be more cautious in response to a threat, Dr. Brodie said it didn't counteract their risk of falling.

When participants went from leaning forwards - such as over a phone - to slipping backward, their motion sensors showed an increase in the range of their “trunk angle.”

The research used that to measure whether the texting condition was making students more likely to fall, and they found that the average trunk angle range during a fall "significantly increased" if a student was texting.

Walking also caused the texters’ accuracy to decrease, according to the findings published in the journal Heliyon.

Dr. Brodie said: "The highest texting accuracy occurred when participants were seated, but accuracy decreased even as walking participants were cautioned about a potential slip that did not occur.

"The lowest accuracy, however, occurred in conditions where participants did slip."

The research team noted that young people may be more likely to take risks - even if they are aware that texting and walking could increase their likelihood of falling.

For that reason, they believe that educational initiatives such as signs might be less effective in reaching the population.

The researchers also suggest that phones could implement locking technology similar to what is used when users are driving.

Dr. Brodie added: "The technology could detect walking activity and activate a screen lock to prevent texting during that time."

The team is now planning to look at the effectiveness of such interventions.