Interesting study: Seventy five percent of people walking and talking on their cell phones failed to notice a purple-clad clown riding a unicycle near them. Poor Shriners.

And poor conscientious drivers, according to the authors of the study, who say that this proves the distractibility of the cell phone user in general.

The results of the study will be published in the December issue of Applied Cognitive Psychology -- and are already available online.

The results are meaningful, perhaps. Using a clown as the variable is flawed. Clowns are a lot like mimes; no one wants to make eye contact.