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Texting On the Move Makes You Walk Weird, Study Finds (cnet.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Researchers at Anglia Ruskin University put a mobile eye tracker and motion analysis sensors on participants who walked and crossed a curb-like obstacle on the ground while writing or reading a text or talking on the phone. According to results, phone users spend up to 61 percent less time watching out for the obstacle, and bring their foot up "higher and slower" over the obstacle as they walked, adopting a "cautious and exaggerated stepping strategy" to minimise the risk of tripping. This tendency is observed most in users writing a text on their phones. "We found that using a phone means we look less frequently, and for less time, at the ground, but we adapt our visual search behaviour and our style of walking so we're able to negotiate static obstacles in a safe manner," said Dr Matthew Timmis, lead author and senior lecturer in Sport and Exercise Science. "This results in phone users adopting a slow and exaggerated stepping action."
That's the name I have for them. I still wonder if they're slowly pecking out "Brains!" while they stagger along eyes down peering at their phone while they walk out in front of traffic...
--- I've completed diagnosis of your problem and can classify it as a YOYO...You're On Your Own
The Ministry of Silly Walks.
Yes. But it's a British curb, so traffic will hit you from the other side when you step off of it.
Have gnu, will travel.