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FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- Motorists would be forbidden to send text messages while behind the wheel under proposals awaiting legislative action in Kentucky early next year.
Two lawmakers have filed bills that would add Kentucky to a growing list of states -- 18 so far -- that have passed laws against texting while driving.
Barbara Harsha, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association in Washington, said she expects a flood of additional state legislatures to take up the issue when they convene their 2010 sessions.
"Obviously, texting and driving is very risky," she said. "You're putting yourself at a much greater risk when you text message."
In a study released in July, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that when drivers of heavy trucks texted, their collision risk was 23 times greater than when not texting. Dialing a cell phone and using or reaching for an electronic device increased the risk of collisions about six times in cars and trucks.
The Virginia Tech researchers said the risks of texting generally applied to all drivers, not just truckers.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is among a throng of political leaders calling for change. He said last month the public is "sick and tired" of distracted drivers causing accidents.
In Kentucky, state Rep. Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, said he opted to sponsor a bill after seeing so many motorists typing messages, sometimes obliviously drifting from lane to lane.
"It's a pretty big issue here," he said.
Harsha said texting obviously requires drivers to divert their attention from the road. "Common sense tells you not to do it," she said.
The Governors Highway Safety Association, which monitors driver safety initiatives across the country, said state legislatures have passed laws banning texting while driving in Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Washington.
Seven other states, Harsha said, have instituted bans on texting by novice drivers.
Lt. David Jude, spokesman for the Kentucky State Police headquarters in Frankfort, stopped short of endorsing the proposed ban on texting last week.
"A majority of collisions in Kentucky are the result of driver inattention," Jude said. "So anytime we can get the drivers' attention back on the roadway where it belongs we feel like there would be a reduction in collisions, injuries and fatalities."
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
