Grim message: Texting can kill

"That type of thing shouldn't happen," said state Representative Joseph F. Wagner, cochairman of the Joint Committee on Transportation. "You can't give your full attention to operating a motor vehicle, or another thing, while giving your attention to texting."

Wagner, a Democrat from Chicopee, has again introduced a bill that would make it illegal to operate any vehicle while texting or using cellphones without a hands-free device. A similar bill passed the House but was not considered by the Senate during the last session, he said.

"You can't read a text message while driving. It's physically impossible," said Jeff Larson, president of Safe Roads Alliance, a nonprofit group that promotes safe driving habits.

It takes at least three seconds to send a short text message, said Brandon Bogart, founder of In Control Advanced Driver Training, a crash prevention program. In that time, a driver on the highway could have traveled the length of a football field.

"That's a long time to not be looking at the road," Bogart said.

Young drivers who have grown up with text messaging, coupled with cellphones that make text messaging easier, have led to more instances of texting behind the wheel.

"It is more prevalent in youth, who are inexperienced on top of it all," Bogart said.

Most drivers realize texting is dangerous, but they grossly underestimate the peril it poses.

"Unfortunately, a lot of drivers view it on the same terms of a lot of the other distractions they engage in, like having a conversation or using the radio, but unfortunately it's drastically more dangerous," he said. "All of the studies show that from an attentiveness perspective, it's as bad as or worse than being drunk behind the wheel."

According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, a nationwide nonprofit group, 10 states and the District of Columbia ban drivers from sending text messages. Dozens more are considering bans on texting.

However, legislation may do little to change drivers' habits, said Larson, who is also a traffic reporter for Channel 5 in Boston.

"Unfortunately, it's very hard to legislate that type of behavior, and it's difficult to enforce," Bogart said. "It's something that needs to be more ingrained as a societal issue."

In October, 17-year-old Amanda Martin died in a crash that police believe occurred when she looked away from the road to read a message. In December 2007, a 13-year-old was killed while riding his bike after a text messaging driver struck him.

In December 2007, 13-year-old Earman Machado, who was riding his bike near his home in Taunton, was killed when 31-year-old Craig P. Bigos of New Bedford sent a text message while driving. Bigos pleaded guilty to motor vehicle homicide and received a 2 1/2-year sentence in the county jail.

Sending text messages has been a problem in other rail accidents. In Los Angeles last September, a Metrolink train crashed when the operator ran a red light while sending a text message. That crash killed 25 people, including the operator.