It might be tempting to bang out a quick text or grab a bite on the go, but walking and multitasking could lead to injuries. Just as several states outlawed sending emojis from behind the wheel (thanks toresearchshowing texting and driving impairs judgment and reaction times), new research on texting while walking shows that you shouldn’t be doing that, either.
2017年studypublished in in PLOS One found that texting while walking leads to taking shorter steps and increases the height of your stride — producing a stride pattern similar to those seen while under the influence of alcohol. Moreover, walkers were slower and more apt to veer off course.
德克萨斯A＆M大学的运动和运动营养实验室的研究助理康拉德·厄纳斯特（Conrad Earnest），他进行了类似studyalso published in PLOS One, explains, “Several reports suggest that this type of pedestrian behavior leads to more pedestrian accidents, possibly increases the risk of tripping and increases riskier road crossing behavior due to a lack of attention.”
In Honolulu, texting and walking could also lead to afine. Starting October 25, it will be illegal to cross a street or highway while looking at a mobile electronic device like a cellphone. Fines will range from $15–$35 for the first offense and go up to $99 for a third offense.
散步，说话或口香糖
It’s not just texting that’s problematic: Walking and talking on the phone also has risks.
俄亥俄州立大学researchshowed the number of emergency room visits associated with pedestrians using cellphones in public more than doubled between 2005–2010. In anews release, co-author and professor emeritus Jack Nasar, PhD, says, “这role of cellphones in distracted driving injuries and deaths gets a lot of attention and rightly so, but we need to also consider the danger cellphone use poses to pedestrians.”
在旧多米尼翁大学，研究人员研究了口香糖对步行的影响。这research, which has not been published, found you walk more quickly when you chew. Although the study wasn’t set up to look at multitasking, Steven Morrison, PhD, the professor who oversaw the research, noted that performing any two rhythmic behaviors like chewing, tapping your fingers and walking, affects gait.
Because you tend to chew faster than you walk, Morrison says, “当您开始咀嚼时，您会起飞。
READ MORE >4 MAJOR WALKING MISTAKES AND HOW TO AVOID THEM
AGE AND GENDER DIFFERENCES
多任务的影响往往比女性更敏锐地影响男性。2017年studypublished in the journal Royal Society Open Science found men were stumped by a cognitive test administered as they were walking.
Earnest believes teens may be another population most at risk to the effects of multitasking while walking because of their tendency to engage in riskier behavior but adds, “T他每天上下班期间，他的风险也适用于工作场所中的人，在城镇周围忙碌。”
Since multitasking and cellphones are facts of life, researchers acknowledge that convincing pedestrians to go cellphone free is not a likely solution. Earnest compares checking email and texting while walking to eating a healthy diet and exercising, explaining, “It’s like any healthy lifestyle habit. Eventually one has to exercise due diligence and self-protection.”
Just like doughnuts are OK in moderation, Earnest noes, “Perhaps a good middle ground is that if a text or email really can’t wait, then ‘pull to the side,’ stand still, answer the text/email and continue along.”
