UPDATED 15:51 EST / OCTOBER 18 2011

Giancarlo Yerkes

Giancarlo Yerkes, a 30-year-old advertising employee, crosses a street in downtown Chicago while text-messaging with his cell phone, Tuesday, July 29, 2008. In an alert issued this week, the American College of Emergency Physicians says based on reports from emergency-room doctors around the country, the number of text-messaging pedestrians, bicyclists, roller-bladers and even motorists who aren’t so fortunate is rising. Terkes admitted he once walked straight into a stop sign while texting and bumped his head. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)