# If you're Texting, don't Walk. Texting and Walking Don't Mix **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 24, 2012, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-texting-dont-walk-texting-and-walking-dont-mix/616668 "2012-03-24T03:34:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-texting-dont-walk-texting-and-walking-dont-mix/616668/21 "2012-03-24T13:45:55Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > SMS LOL ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-texting-dont-walk-texting-and-walking-dont-mix/616668/22 "2012-03-24T14:33:45Z")
I was lucky to get my wake up call early on with a lucky escape. New to having a mobile, tra la, new boyfriend to text with, tra la _la_, at a fun conference somewhere I’ve never been to before, uh oh. Coming out of a lecture theatre and checking my phone to see if new boyfriend had texted… came back to reality just as I grabbed a handrail and found myself swaying precariously at the top of a flight of concrete steps. Visualised likely effect of falling down said steps, resolved to save looking at phone for times I was stationary. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-texting-dont-walk-texting-and-walking-dont-mix/616668/23 "2012-03-24T15:01:35Z")
This type of misstep (pun intended) isn’t limited to people staring at a smartphone. Years ago I was taking photos at a marina. I was looking through the viewfinder, trying to get just the right angle, and I took one step too many. In my case I didn’t fall into the water, but my leg slipped between the dock and the hull of a boat. I cut up my knee pretty bad, but luckily someone on the ship was watching and had a first aid kit on hand. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-texting-dont-walk-texting-and-walking-dont-mix/616668/24 "2012-03-24T17:53:28Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > How do we send this thread to every teenager on Earth? It’s not just teenagers. I spent the last couple of weeks annoyed at adults trying to get on an elevator while texting. They walk sloooooow. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-texting-dont-walk-texting-and-walking-dont-mix/616668/25 "2012-03-24T18:10:18Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > I recall a thread a while back about a girl who was texting and fell down a manhole. Are you sure that wasn’t just a cartoon? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-texting-dont-walk-texting-and-walking-dont-mix/616668/26 "2012-03-24T19:05:17Z")
I’ll add another request to those trying to walk and text at the same time (I call them “text blockers”) - if you do decide to stop and text or talk, can you take it off to the side, instead of stopping dead in the middle of where everyone is trying to walk? Kthxbai. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-texting-dont-walk-texting-and-walking-dont-mix/616668/27 "2012-03-24T22:08:10Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > [You’re not](http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mental-mishaps/201007/texting-zombies-the-scourge-text-messaging-in-public) the [only one](http://www.thegrumbler.net/2012/03/zombie-spring.html). > > [Possible new street sign.](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E9A2v200KrE/TlWlFjuwbiI/AAAAAAAAN50/Oyzx6hqPbcU/s1600/screen-capture-1.jpg) I feel so unoriginal. 😛 It’s not just texting. Half the people on the street are staring at smartphones like they are witnessing the second coming. It’s tempting to carry an air horn. And the idea that some people are doing it while driving is truly frightening. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-texting-dont-walk-texting-and-walking-dont-mix/616668/28 "2012-03-24T22:59:35Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > A woman in Paris met the same fate recently. She was texting while crossing a bridge, tripped, and fell headfirst over an unusually low point in the railing. Fortunately, she was a strong swimmer and escaped drowning, but the resulting fall left her temporarily in Seine. You don’t c’est!? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2012, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-texting-dont-walk-texting-and-walking-dont-mix/616668/29 "2012-03-25T00:57:20Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > This is how students at the local junior high continue to text despite the ban on cellphones. You walk and text at the same time, with your phone in your pocket, and, somehow the teachers don’t notice. Or perhaps teachers are used to students with their hand in their pocket, and their fingers moving? And have decided that they really don’t want to know what those students are doing! ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2012, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-texting-dont-walk-texting-and-walking-dont-mix/616668/30 "2012-03-25T02:07:03Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > I recall a thread a while back about a girl who was texting and fell down a manhole. > [@guizot](#): > > Are you sure that wasn’t just a cartoon? [I’m sure.](http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/07/girl-falls-into-manhole-while-texting-parents-sue/) [As you well know.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=524258&highlight=Longueira) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-texting-dont-walk-texting-and-walking-dont-mix/616668/31 "2012-03-25T19:23:45Z")
We need a national campaign to encourage designated texters. ---
**Author:** ![DarrenS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2012, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-texting-dont-walk-texting-and-walking-dont-mix/616668/32 "2012-03-25T21:09:34Z")
Don’t worry - [there’s an app for that](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/type-n-walk/id331043123). ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-texting-dont-walk-texting-and-walking-dont-mix/616668/33 "2012-03-26T16:57:44Z")
If I could get a laptop for my walker, I could check the 'Dope while stumbling into traffic! ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-texting-dont-walk-texting-and-walking-dont-mix/616668/34 "2012-03-26T19:33:44Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > If I could get a laptop for my walker, I could check the 'Dope while stumbling into traffic! [Here you are](http://www.nextag.com/Bracketron-Mobotron-Universal-Vehicle-584590889/prices-html) :). ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-texting-dont-walk-texting-and-walking-dont-mix/616668/35 "2012-03-26T22:42:36Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > [Here you are](http://www.nextag.com/Bracketron-Mobotron-Universal-Vehicle-584590889/prices-html) :). I wonder if I want one on the wheelchair I ordered today? Naaaaa. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-texting-dont-walk-texting-and-walking-dont-mix/616668.md?page=1)