Don't text and walk

Don’t drink and drive. Don’t text and drive. Also, come to think of it, don’t drink and text either. Just trust me on that one. These instructions have all more or less made their way into collective common sense. But, “don’t text and walk?”

This is exactly the advice that the North Carolina Department of Transportation is now giving the state’s pedestrians.

According to a report from the Governors Highway Safety Association, North Carolina had the fourth highest spike in pedestrian fatalities among all 50 states after a 4-year period ending in 2010. The DOT, citing a University of Birmingham study, attributes much of this increase to distracted students and children using cell phones.

A DOT release encourages students to “pull out the earphones and put away the cell phones and music devices while crossing the street. Above all, pay attention to your surroundings.”

Although Duke doesn’t have too many roads to cross on campus, the chances of a Duke student stopping to pause their iPods while crossing Science Drive…well, it doesn’t seem too likely. Most potential collisions on campus would be between students walking, and most Duke students seem to have the whole texting while walking thing down. We pay less attention to our surroundings—we know what to expect around us.

Just remember that we are still in the so-called “Duke bubble." Outside of it, it’s not just rainbows and butterflies and other students walking around. If you ever manage to get off of campus, keep in mind that there are plenty of cars and streets to cross, plenty of accidents waiting to happen. So, don’t text and walk.