How often do you injure yourself because of your phone?

Have you ever walked into another person, a wall or lamppost because you were looking at your phone instead of where you were going? Have you ever accidentally dropped your phone on your face in bed or missed your bus or train because you were glued to a screen? You aren’t the only one…

A fifth of adults have walked into someone while trying to multitask on their mobile while another one in five have tripped over. An unlucky one in eight have even ended up hurt or injured, with almost a third claiming to have narrowly avoided disaster while distracted by their devices.

But despite regularly falling victims themselves to a mobile mishap, half of Brits admit they take pleasure in watching other people suffer a similar fate. Thirty per cent relish the schadenfreude of two mobile users bumping into each other, while one in eight admit to stifling a giggle when they see someone drop their phone on their own face.

The study, conducted through OnePoll.com, also found 77 per cent of Brits believe the rise of the mobile phone has caused attention spans to shorten, with a quarter being picked up by others on how distracted they are by their gadgets. As a result, 13 per cent think they have missed an important moment in their life because they were too occupied with their phone.

More then one in ten Brits are so glued to their devices they would happily use their mobile in the cinema, while 19 per cent take it in the bath with them. One in twenty would even risk a cheeky check of their notifications in the shower, and 46 of the respondents even admitted they would have no qualms whipping out their smartphone in the midst of a funeral.

“Whatever we are checking on our phones all the time must be pretty good to risk dropping our gadget in the bath,” said Greg Tatton-Brown, a spokesperson for Casumo, who commissioned the study. ““It’s no surprise we’re finding ourselves getting into all sorts of bother when checking our phones on the go, and we’re sure the average Brit would benefit from improving their situational awareness while distracted.”

Have you ever ended up in an accident because of your phone? Would you consider turning off? Let us know on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.