Millions of Brits have been involved in “phone-ccidents” – an embarrassing or painful mishap while using their phone.
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.
Twenty seven of the 2,000 mobile users polled even admitted their phone use has resulted in a car accident.
It also emerged a third of absent-minded Brits consider themselves to be clumsy in general, even before the addition of a smartphone vying for their attention.
Greg Tatton-Brown, a spokesperson for online casino Casumo.com, which commissioned the study, said: “You only need to watch the streets for a minute or two to realise the UK is a nation glued to its phone screen.
“And while our study has focused on the mobile mishaps befalling clumsy Brits, it has also revealed, thankfully, most of us are left unscathed by our dedication to our gadgets.”
Some of the more bizarre stories to emerge include one man who took a tumble over a sun lounger, planting their head in a nearby flowerbed, and another who misjudged their descent and fell off the loo while distracted by a phone notification.
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.
Researchers also found more than one in five would like to see a wrist strap developed to stop phones falling from our grasp.
And 13 per cent reckon a phone which can warn them when an object – like a lamp post or another pedestrian – is heading into their path would also cut the number of mobile mishaps.
On the more serious side, 22 per cent believe they have experienced eye strain as a result of using their smartphone, and one in six attribute aching wrists to regular phone usage.
More than one in ten even think they have developed a long-term health concern because of excessive use of their phone over the years.
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.
Greg Tatton-Brown added: “Whatever we are checking on our phones all the time must be pretty good to risk dropping our gadget in the bath.
“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.”
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