Texting and walking ain't safe either, it turns out!

While it’s nowhere near as dangerous as texting and driving, deaths resulting from texting and walking increased more than threefold between 2004 and 2010, according to a new Governors Highway Safety Association report. (Given how much more popular texting has gotten in the past five years, the present-day figure is likely significantly higher.)

The people most likely to engage in this behavior are between the ages of 16 and 25, and they have suffered documented injuries ranging from falling off walkways or bridges (falling off bridges!!!!!!!) to walking in front of moving traffic.

Some cities have gone to creative lengths to single out negligent “petextrians.“ For example, Philadelphia has issued more than 400 mock tickets for distracted walking. Overall, pedestrian fatalities increased 15 percent between 2009 and 2013.

We haven't heard of any petextrian fatalities here in the Cedar Valley, and let's keep it that way. Don't run into one of those fancy lightposts on Main Street in Cedar Falls. That "LOL" can wait!

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