Looking at your phone to text, read an email, or scroll through social media could end up with a trip to the hospital.
Injuries caused by “twalking” or texting while walking are becoming more common, with doctors noting an increase in patients with cuts, bruises and even fractures as a result of distracted walking.
Researchers found that messaging on the go will soon be the most common reason for tech breaches in the United States.
Phones currently account for 23 percent of technology-related injuries nationwide, from tripping over cables to hitting objects while texting.
This made phones the second most dangerous technology product in America, behind televisions, which typically cause injuries when people try to lift them.
Texting was the most common cause of phone-related incidents at 334, closely followed by talking at 333 and walking at 281
Scientists in Australia said taking selfies should be considered a “public health issue”.
Decluttr – an online exchange platform that buys unwanted technology – used National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) data compiled on technology-related injuries over the past decade and found that they have increased 20 percent since 2020.
The increase was partly due to the pandemic lockdowns, which made us more reliant on technology, the company said.
And tech-addicted Millennials are the most prone to accidents.
Incidents included stepping on lampposts and bus stops, tripping on fountains and falling down stairs.
General pain was the most common complaint of twalking injuries, followed by bruising and lacerations, particularly on the face and head.
Dr. Sean Rockett, an orthopedic doctor in New England, told he had seen “a lot of ankle sprains and wrist fractures, especially from falls off curbs” while patients were on the phone.
A team from Australia analyzed academic papers and media reports of selfie-related injuries or deaths worldwide since 2008 and found that nearly 400 were reported during the 13-year study period – including 77 in the United States.
The victims were most often female tourists in their early 20s, with falls and drowning while taking photos the two most common causes of death.
In 2017, a 67-year-old woman in New Jersey fell through a sidewalk access door because she was distracted by her phone.
She was then taken to the hospital for medical treatment.
In 2015, a man died after falling off a cliff in San Diego after trying to photograph the sunset, according to police.
“He wasn't paying attention to where he was going, but rather was looking down at the device,” San Diego Lifeguard Sgt. Bill Bender told CBS.
In August 2012, a Philadelphia man fell on train tracks while talking on the phone but was freed from the tracks before a train arrived.
That same year, an Indiana mother named Bonnie Miller had to be rescued from Lake Michigan after she fell into the water while walking on a pier and inattentively texting.
“I made an appointment at the wrong time, so I sent about three words. “The next thing you knew there was water,” Ms. Miller told ABC57.com after her accident in March 2012.
Her husband realized what was happening and jumped after her as other passersby shouted for help.
In 2011, 19-year-old Ryan Robbins died after a night out in Melbourne, Australia, when he accidentally walked over a short railing in a parking lot and fell to his death while texting his friend.
Earlier this year, researchers at the University of New South Wales in Australia asked 50 young adults to walk along a tiled path equipped with a sliding tile that would cause them to slip.
They did this either without texting or by typing the phrase “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” into their phone.
Texting was found to increase the risk of accidental falls among study participants. It was determined that they slipped but were wearing a safety belt to prevent them from actually falling to the ground and sustaining injuries.
The findings – that texting pedestrians are at risk of falling over – may seem obvious, but motion sensors attached to each person shed light on why texting while walking might be such a bad idea.
When people texted, their gait was less stable and they had a harder time regaining their balance.
A separate, similar study published in JAMA in 2019 examined 20 years of emergency room data and observed an increase in cell phone-related incidents.
Researchers found that the number of head and neck injuries related to cellphones while walking steadily increased between 1998 and 2017 as cellphones became a staple in the hands of most Americans.
While most injuries were minor, such as cuts and bruises, some were more serious and resulted in fractures.