From Live Science & Switched Cell-Phone Users Can't Spot a Clown on a Unicycle
Using a cell phone while walking is so distracting that people are likely to miss a clown riding a unicycle.Spotting a clown - an experiment run by Western Washington University this past fall. There was a student who knew how to ride a unicycle and a professor who had a clown suit. They dressed a student up as a clown and had him ride his unicycle around a popular campus square. Then they asked people, 'Did you see the Unicycling Clown?' 71% of the people walking in pairs said that they had. 51% of the people walking alone said that they had. But only 25% of the people talking on a cellphone said that they saw the unicycling clown. On the other hand, when asked 'Did you see anything unusual?' only about one person in three mentioned a unicycling clown."
"If [cell-phone use] disrupts something as simple as walking, which I'm assuming most of these people have been doing a long time and are pretty proficient at generally, we know it's going to be a really difficult task driving," Hyman said.
Electronic distraction
Past research has suggested cell-phone use while driving can be as dangerous as drunk driving. But participants typically had specified conversations while operating a driving simulator in a lab setting, where other non-realistic factors might affect results.
