Walking and texting, it's not so much a coordination skill like walking and chewing gum, rather something experts say is almost impossible to "safely" execute simply based on the way we're built.
Producer Heather Grubola and I hit the streets to test texters' attention spans.
It was the splash seen around the world, a woman falling face first into a shopping mall fountain as she failed texting and walking.
Her plunge went viral, but cameras are apparently missing a pretty good montage of mobile mishaps.
"I have a tendency of walking into doors while I am texting."
"I run into people sometimes."
"I have tripped over fire hydrants. I have fallen into snow. I've walked into puddles a thousand times."
No matter how good we think we are at text multi-tasking, research Consultant Peter Hecht says texting and walking is really a dangerous combo because our brains suffer system overload.
"You're kind of activating the same parts of the brain, so if one is taking up that chunk of the brain the other one can't get in," explains Peter Hecht.
It took one texter ten seconds before she even peeks up from her phone.
Hecht compares it to highway hypnosis.
"You actually might take the information in, but you're not going to see, so it's like being wide open blind," Hecht says.
We conducted our own little unofficial experiment and planted our producer, Heather Grubola, on a very busy street in University City with a sign to find out whether texters are paying attention.
Ricker Gould, along with many other texters, just passed us by.
When asked what he would do if he walked into a poll or something, Rick said, "I would be embarrassed. Very embarrassed, especially if I miss a street sign for walk and I walk and a car comes."
A few folks also failed to catch our sign in Center City and in Rittenhouse Square, where David Turcott wasn't surprised.
"I have fallen down some stairs. I have definitely walked into a few things, signs, probably walls," said David Turcott.
Besides the obvious advice of keeping your eyes open and your phone shut, Hecht says if you're going to text, don't be overconfident and do be cautious.
"People are basically putting themselves in danger," says Hecht."
Stop and check where you are, especially if you are coming to a corner or intersection, don't text while crossing a street.
The results of our 6abc.com online poll where we asked how often do you text while walking:
12% always
61% sometimes
27% never
We also asked if you do text while walking have you had a mishap:
26% have bumped into something or someone
14% have tripped
60% have never had a mishap
