Reports of injuries to distracted walkers treated at hospital emergency rooms have more than quadrupled in the past seven years. About 1,152 people were treated in hospital emergency rooms in the U.S. last year for injuries suffered while walking and using a cellphone or some other electronic device. But that's likely an underestimate because patients may not mention they were using a cellphone or other device at the time at the time they were injured.
Some of the cases include …

• a 24-year-old woman who walked into a telephone pole while texting;
• a 28-year-old man who was walking along a road when he fell into a ditch while talking on a cellphone;
• a 12-year-old boy who was looking at a video game when he was clipped by a pickup truck as he crossed the street;
• a bicyclist who was talking on his cellphone and ran into a 67-year-old pedestrian;
• a California man who was texting his boss and nearly strolled into the path of a 400-pound black bear. The distracted texter was only a few feet away when he looked up, saw the bear, and ran.

One news outlet offered the following advice: "Texting while walking is less dangerous than texting while driving … but as [the story about the black bear] demonstrates, it is always a good idea to keep aware of your surroundings."

Possible Preaching Angles: This illustration could be taken literally (our lives are cluttered with too many distractions) or it could be used to show how our spiritual "walk" gets off track because our focus isn't on Christ.