Researchers made this discovery through watching hundreds of students walk across a university campus and monitoring how those using their phone acted. While this will have come as no surprise to those constantly avoiding wandering phone users, it has proven valuable to those conducting the study. In their first study of 196 pedestrians they noted that students on the phone “walked slowly, made more direction changes and were less likely to explicitly acknowledge other people”.

Their second study consisted of less people but may have proven much more valuable. They employed a clown to ride his unicycle around a sculpture on the campus. While those not on the phone had a 50% of seeing him, only 6 of the 24 subjects (25%) on the phone had noticed the brightly dressed man riding around.

This backed their studies from the lab, with one professor saying “Cell phone users walk more slowly, change directions and weave more often - and fail to notice interesting and novel objects. The effect appears to be caused by the distraction of a cell phone conversation, because people walking in pairs did not display the same range of problems. Something about the conversation seems to limit attentional capacity.”

This study is sure to help those campaigning against mobile phone use in cars. Although holding them to your ear when driving has been banned, hands-free kits are still allowed but people will be sure to draw attention to the fact that if having a phone conversation can impair your ability to walk, imagine the possibilities of what could happen when behind the wheel of a car.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/6387100/Mobile-phone-users-cannot-walk-in-straight-line.html