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A new study reveals that drivers have a lot more to worry about than trying to drive while talking on their cell phones.  Researchers at the University of Alabama conducted a study involving 77 children and discovered those who talk or text on their cellphones while crossing streets are 43% more likely to be hit by a car. 

In the study, the children, ages 10 and 11, were observed by using virtual reality software to simulate a crosswalk.  A sensor pad recorded their moves and revealed the children took more risks when talking on their cell phones as they crossed, took longer to do so, and often forgot to look both ways beforehand.

“Cell phones clearly offer convenience and safeguards to families, but they also may pose risk,” said doctoral student Despina Stavrinos, whose study appears in the journal Pediatrics.  Stavrinos said in a statement that children who attempt to multitask while talking on a cell phone have “reduced cognitive capacity to devote to potentially dangerous activities such as crossing streets.”

The researchers made the same conclusion that applies to driving and cell phone use: Don’t do it.  Cell phones are distracting and that’s just too dangerous when driving or crossing the street.

Read [Yahoo! News]