Texting hazardous while walking

MILWAUKEE, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Wisconsin health authorities say they are seeing more injuries among people using their cell phones to send text messages while also walking.

The American College of Emergency Physicians recently issued a warning about texting while walking, driving, in-line skating or engaging in some other activity. It is a concern shared by local medical institutions, reported the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Saturday.

Bill Haselow, an emergency physician at Columbia St. Mary's Hospital, Ozaukee, described treating two teenagers who in recent months suffered serious texting-while-walking injuries at the Mequon hospital. Both patients received a broken nose after falling face first on a sidewalk.

"I think they just get so focused on (texting) they don't see a little bump or a trip or a stumble, and down they go," Haselow said. "And they're not in a position to brace themselves."

Haselow, 51, said he tried to discourage the two from texting while walking. But he wasn't sure he succeeded.

"You try to warn them that maybe they want to do that at a different time. But you're not sure that they hear you," Haselow said.