SPECIAL REPORT: Dangers of Texting and Walking
Updated: Thursday, May 2 2013, 05:24 AM EDT
COLUMBUS (Tara Morgan) -- You see it all the time, people walking and texting. But one OSU professor says the distraction has gotten worse and it's putting more people in the ER.
Professor Jack Nasar did a study on people walking while on the phone.
"What we found in the database is from 2004 to 2010 the number of injuries to pedestrians related to cell phone use increased every year. The last year the pedestrian injuries exceeded the driver injuries," said Nasar.
Those getting hurt the most include people under 30 years old and men.
Injuries range from bumps and bruises to broken bones.
Nasar says there are even reports of people dying.
FOX28 put people to the test to see who's paying attention and who's not.
While many believe they can multi-task, Nasar says your attention is split between your phone and your environment.
"You go rapidly back and forth between things so you're distracted it could be a moment two moments that's enough to have an accident," said Nasar.