New research from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign indicates that cell phone users may be no better at walking than they are at driving.

The studies, which were conducted in a lab using a treadmill and simulated street scenes, measured the performance of subjects crossing a street while talking on a cell phone, while listening to music on an iPod, and while doing nothing else. Subjects on cell phones took 25 percent longer to cross the street than those on iPods and with no distraction.

MSNBC reported that the researchers said that the cell phone users were not more likely to be hit by simulated cars, but also noted that if a pedestrian is pressed for time, the risk may still be greater than those without distractions. A similar study at Western Washington University found that cell phone users could become distracted enough to miss even a clown on a unicycle, according to results released last month.

Congress is reportedly considering legislation to ban cell phone use in cars, which would require new mobile management skills for drivers. There is as yet no word on any possible cell phone ban for pedestrians.

This entry was posted by Mobility Management News Desk on Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 at 12:08 am and is filed under Managing Mobile Devices News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.

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