The dangers of texting and walking continue to make the news. It seems as harmless as other things you do when you walk - like checking your watch, looking through your purse or wallet, and staring into a store window. But if your text and “jay”walk in Fort Lee, New Jersey, they could fine you 85 buckeroos because of their new law. And New York is looking into a similar law.
It still remains to be seen just how dangerous this activity really is. Was the woman who walked into a water fountain a fluke? Or is the danger from texting and walking very real?
So, here at textPlus, we wanted to see what you- our awesome textPlusers thought. Our recent survey of 1441 respondents about texting and walking habits revealed the following:
Do you text and walk?
65% of textPlusers said they have texted and walked. However, the older a person is, the less inclined they are to participate in this behavior. While 73% of 13-17 year olds text and walk, only 50% of 35-44 year olds do so.
Why do they text and walk?
40% of all respondents say they’re texts are too important to wait. And the younger the age, the higher the percentage that say their texts are “fairly important”.
Can they handle it?
82% of all respondents say they have never tripped while texting and walking. However, of those who have stumbled, it’s twice as many women as men (21% women vs 12% men). Maybe it’s the high heels?
But is it safe?
63% of all respondents said texting and walking might be safe, depending on where you’re at. However, older respondents don’t think it’s safe at all - 50% of 45+ year olds and 62% of respondents aged 55+ felt this way. Maybe that’s because the majority of our respondents ages 24-35 said they were too concerned about typos to text and walk.
Many of our respondents have even bumped into another person while texting and walking. And, some texters have even bumped directly into the person that they were texting.
So regardless of walking into someone, what do you think? Is texting and walking really dangerous?
Just don’t ask the woman who fell into the fountain.
-Amy