(PCM) 
They can be compared to having an electronic handcuff with you are all times day or night, and they can certainly be a distraction. You hear countless news reports about the dangers of texting while driving as well as issues where people injure themselves by walking into something or off of something, as in the case we have here.
A Taiwanese tourist was making a visit to Australia and while visiting the St. Kilda pier she was too busy checking her Facebook status to realize she had just walked off the end of the pier, landing straight into the water below. Luckily the woman was just fine, despite the fact that she could not swim and even still managed to keep a death grip on her phone throughout the entire ordeal. A witness made a call to an emergency rescue team in the area, who helped the woman to safely. Once safely on shore she claimed “I was checking my Facebook page on the phone and I’ve fallen in”.
This reminds us of the other viral video that features security cam footage from a mall showing a woman texting before pluging directly into a mall fountain. It also shows how easy it is to become distracted with the latest social media updates and completely lose track of your surroundings. While both the pier story and the mall fountain story ended with no serious injuries not all stories share the same fate.
There have been countless horrific motor vehicle accidents that are the result of someone texting and driving and many have lost their lives due to the driver distraction. The Consumer Product Safety Commission in 2012 found that more than 1,150 people in the US were treated in hospitals in the space of 12 months after being involved in so-called ‘distracted walking’ incidents, marking a significant increase over years past and this data does not even include the incidents of smartphone/tablet use while driving.
Hopefully the the woman in Australia has learned her lesson and will put the phone away and just take some time to take in and enjoy her natural surroundings. The same advice can go for the rest of the population of smartphone addicts as well! Unplug and pay attention!
