Senators push nationwide ban on texting while driving

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Four senators will push for a bill Wednesday to ban texting while driving, a day after a study found that drivers who text while on the road are much more likely to have an accident than an undistracted driver.

Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-New York; Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey; Mary Landrieu, D-Louisiana; and Kay Hagan, D-North Carolina, called the study a "wake-up call" and described texting as "a threat posed to public safety on the nation's roadways," according to a news release.

The proposed legislation would prohibit any driver from sending text or e-mail messages while driving a vehicle, said the release. Fourteen states already have laws barring texting while driving.  If the senators' bill passes, states that do not enact text-banning laws could lose federal highway funds, according to the release.

The study, by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute,  found that truck drivers who texted while driving were 23 times more likely to crash or get into a near-wreck than undistracted drivers.

When compared to dialing, talking, listening or reaching for an electronic device, texting posed the greatest accident risk, the study found, attributing it to the almost five seconds the driver's eyes are off the roadway while texting, said Rich Hanowski, the director of the Center for Truck and Bus Safety at the transportation institute.

Using the institute's findings, texting while driving is more dangerous than drunk driving, the senators said in the release.