Safety comes first, not texting

Walking on the road side while talking or texting on mobile phones can be dangerous. Readers must have seen persons walking and bumping into other persons or an electricity pole while peering on their mobile phone screens. Video sharing websites such as YouTube and Vimeo have several videos and documentaries that tell us not to indulge in mobile texting while walking on the road and there is a popular video that went viral on the Internet. The video shows an oblivious girl falling into a mall fountain while walking and texting.

TextPlus, a free texting and calling app for Android, iOS and Windows, conducted a survey to find out ‘do people text while walking’. According to the survey, over 65 percent of those surveyed admitted to texting while walking. However, the statistics change among mobile users of different age groups. Over 73 percent children between 13 and 18 years admitted to texting while walking or doing other work. And there are youngsters who use smart phones and other devices and engage in them even when walking.

The report reveals that the younger generation indulges too much in texting while walking because they believe that their texts are too important to wait.  These are the results of the survey conducted on the Internet among persons of different age groups from different countries.

The findings of the report beg the question: is your texting more important than your safety? Many users who participated in the survey replied that texting while walking might be safe, depending on where you are. Texting and walking has been banned in many countries for safety reasons. The police department in Bhubaneswar has put up many hoarding at several crossroads to make people aware that the usage of mobile phones on roads could be risky.

Technocrats have come up with a solution and there is an application Text ‘N’ Walk available for smart phones with camera. The application enables mobile users to text and walk because they can see the path ahead on their mobile screens. The danger of falling into pothole or crashing into a lamppost is reduced.