Texting while walking can be very dangerous. CFP
我们大多数人都知道不能一边走路一边发信息，但我们就是忍不住想秒回刚刚收到的信息。
However, while it’s fun to keep up with the latest gossip, we may actually be putting ourselves in danger.
然而，尽管紧跟最新的八卦新闻很好玩，但这或许也让我们自己身处危险之中。
A team of researchers from two UK universities recently found that people who use their phones while on the move walk differently than usual.
来自英国两所大学的一组研究人员近期发现，一边走路一边玩手机的人走路姿势会与往常不同。
“Recently, a person in front of me was walking very slowly and weaving, and I thought, ‘Is this person drunk?’” Matthew Timmis, co-author of the study, told the Guardian.
“最近我遇到一个人走在我前面，不光走路慢，还走得歪歪扭扭的。我不禁想，‘这人喝多了吗？’”该研究的合著者马修·蒂米斯在接受《卫报》采访时表示。
It turned out that the person was just texting. Inspired by this, Timmis and his team set out to discover the effects of phone use on how we navigate streets.
原来，这人只是在发信息。受到这件事的启发，蒂米斯和他的团队开始研究使用手机会给人们上街走路带来什么样的影响。
A group of 21 volunteers were asked to walk around a simulated street, complete with obstacles such as a step. The participants traveled the course a total of 12 times each, either writing or reading a message, making a call, or with no phone at all.
21位志愿者被要求在一条模拟街道上闲逛，街道上还有一些台阶之类的障碍物。实验参与者们每人都在这条街道上走了12遍。在这一过程中，有人收发信息，有人打电话，也有人没拿手机。
It took the volunteers 118 percent longer to complete the course when using a phone. They also focused on the step obstacle 60 percent more and paid attention to the travel path 51 percent more when they weren’t using a phone.
使用手机的志愿者多花了118%的时间才走完这条街道。而没有使用手机的志愿者对台阶障碍物和路上情况的关注度分别增加了60%以及51%。
Although there were no accidents, Timmis believes we should still be aware of what’s going on around us.
尽管实验中并没有发生事故，但蒂米斯认为我们仍然应该时刻关注周围环境。
“The big risk here is suddenly-appearing hazards, [like] a pedestrian suddenly walking in front of you,” he told the Guardian. “You are not going to be able to respond to that as efficiently, which increases the risk of injury.”
“其中一大风险在于突如其来的危险，比如一个路人突然走在你的前面，”他在接受《卫报》采访时表示。“你无法快速地对此做出反应，增加了受伤的风险。”
To bring attention to the dangers of “text walking”, a temporary “texting lane” was set up in Antwerp, Belgium in 2015. And earlier this year, a special crosswalk featuring flashing red lights on the ground to get the attention of texters was set up in Wuhan, Hubei province.
为了让人们关注“走路发短信”的危险，比利时安特卫普市在2015年建了一条临时的“发短信通道”。今年早些时候，湖北省武汉市也建了一个地上会闪烁红灯的人行横道，提醒低头发短信的人注意。
“[Texting while walking] can lead to collisions with poles or other pedestrians. You could even be endangering your own life when you cross the street without looking up,” a spokesperson for the company that made the Antwerp texting lane told Yahoo News.
“（边走路边发短信）可能会撞上电线杆或者其他行人。横穿街道时不抬头看路，甚至会危及生命，”在安特卫普修建发短信通道的公司接受了雅虎新闻的采访，该公司发言人在采访中如是表示。
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