Idaho town Rexburg was among the first in the United States to impose a US$50 (S$68) fine on anyone found crossing a street while texting on a phone. The law was enacted in April 2011 and signs were put up all over the city to remind pedestrians not to text-walk.

An Mlab spokesperson told Yahoo News, “Everyone text-walks. You probably walk through the streets while texting or sending WhatsApp messages to your friends and don’t really pay attention to your surroundings — only to whatever is happening on your screen. This causes collisions with poles or other pedestrians. You could, unknowingly, even be endangering your own life while you text-walk when you cross the street without looking up.”

The scientists warned that text-walkers are also at risk of wandering in front of traffic and stumbling onto train tracks — and urged pedestrians to stop before type…Dr Schabrun said that people need to be educated on the dangers of text-walking.

text walking is just as bad as text driving, ha! Ok, time to break the habit…