Cell phones make mean streets

Forget about walking and chewing gum at the same time. Two recent studies indicate that some people have trouble just walking and talking at the same time. Talking on cell phones, that is.

The studies, in which participants crossed a virtual street while talking on the phone, found that people using hands-free cell phones took 25 percent longer to cross the street and were more likely to get run over than people without phones. If you're an older pedestrian, your chances are even worse. And if you're older and unsteady on your feet, well, we suggest you hang up immediately.

"Many people assume that walking is so automatic that really nothing will get in the way," University of Illinois psychology professor Art Kramer said. But the research he led with psychology professor Jason McCarley and postdoctoral researcher Mark Neider suggests walking "is perhaps not as automatic as one might think."

And while their research was all about talking and walking, it wouldn't take much of a leap to infer that talking on a cell phone while doing something much more complicated than walking (driving a car) is even more of a problem. It would take even less of a leap to conclude that texting while driving is particularly hazardous.

South Carolina lawmakers have prefiled bills that would outlaw or restrict texting and cell phone use while driving. It's worth their careful consideration, and we encourage them to read studies like this one and talk to experts.

Just don't do it from a cell phone while crossing a busy street.