Texting may be hazardous to your health

Text messaging has become an integral and seemingly unavoidable aspect of society. While texting has many benefits, it apparently can be dangerous as well. The American College of Emergency Physicians Foundation recently publicized the hazards of texting and cautioned people to text with care. Teenagers and young adults in particular can become so distracted by texting that they are unaware of their surroundings. The Foundation reported numerous injuries and even deaths resulting from texting. Texting while walking can cause falls or collisions with other pedestrians, bicyclists, or even automobiles, not to mention collisions with stationary objects. The Foundation stresses using common sense while texting and also offers the following suggestions:

- don’t text while you are exercising or doing anything that requires physical activity and attention, such as walking
- don’t text while driving
- don’t text when your situation requires full awareness of your surroundings, such as when you are alone at night or in an unfamiliar area, when you are waiting for public transportation, or when you are in a very busy or crowded area and theft could be an issue

The Foundation also encourages texters to silence their phones when confronted with situations that require awareness and attention. Becoming distracted by incoming text messages can be as dangerous as sending them.

So fess up out there–how many of you multitask and text while walking or driving? Do you plan to continue this behavior even though you know it is hazardous? Why or why not?

This entry was posted on Monday, August 4th, 2008 at 5:20 pm and is filed under General, Public Safety. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.