It seems that not only talking on the phone while driving is dangerous resulting in more accidents than ever imagined, but also texting while walking seems to have the same risks, according to the American College of Emergency Physicians.

The agency issued a warning to young people about a rise in accidents and even deaths related to sending text messages at inappropriate times such as while driving, biking, walking or rollerblading. It seems that paying too much attention to the phone diminishes the attention required when doing such activities.

“People are texting and they trip and fall on their faces – usually people in their 20s. We see a lot of face, chin, mouth (and) eye injuries from falls,” Dr. James Adams, chair of the department of emergency medicine at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine said.

The announcement comes, as the nation’s emergency room physicians fear that the number of the teenagers injured following texting would increase as they head back to school and college next month.

"It's tragic, among teens and young adults, in particular, who are arriving in emergency departments with serious and sometimes fatal injuries because they were not paying attention while texting,” Dr. Linda Lawrence, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians, said.

Therefore, the emergency physicians recommended teens and not only not text or use a cell phone while doing physical activities that requires attention such as boating, walking, biking, rollerblading or even sports like baseball, football, or soccer. Teenagers should not text while driving or motorcycling. Cell phones should be kept in easy-to-find locations so finding them would not interfere with the activities you’re doing. Also, cell phones or messages should be ignored if they interfered with concentration during critical activities that require attention.

“The bottom line is to be aware of potential safety concerns and to simply exercise caution, restraint and good judgment at all times when using a cell phone or blackberry,” Dr. Lawrence said.

The emergency physicians’ warning is an attempt to stop accident related to cell phone use. The same reason lies behind some states banning their citizens no matter the age hand-held cell phone use while driving. Those states included California, New York, Washington, Connecticut, Utah and New Jersey. Tickets for not respecting the law reach even $124 in Washington. Also, other 17 states and the District of Columbia forbid teenagers using cell phone while driving.

According to a University of Utah study, using cell phones can slow down traffic. The study found the drivers were distracted by the phone conversation and made fewer lane changes, and drove 2 to 3 percent more slowly in medium and highly congested traffic. Of course, the study did not look at the serious repercussions of using cell phones in traffic like deadly car crashes. Moreover, the study said hands-free phones are as dangerous as the hand-held phones. Apparently, many believe that even though it may help a bit to have both hands available, the main distraction isn’t connected to the device itself but rather the conversation, which sometimes causes drivers to space out during the discussions and forget to pay attention to their activity.