Texting while driving banned for US federal workers

President Obama signed an executive order Wednesday night banning federal employees from text messaging while driving on the job or in a government-owned vehicle. The order was announced Thursday by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood at a two-day summit in Washington on distracted driving.

"Driving while distracted should just feel wrong -- just as driving without a seat belt or driving while intoxicated seems wrong to most Americans," LaHood said at the summit, attended by more than 300 lawmakers, safety experts and industry representatives.

Being distracted delays a driver's reaction time, according to research by the University of Utah, as much as a blood-alcohol content of 0.08% -- the legal limit. Deaths blamed on distracted drivers are up since 2004, and are most common among young, inexperienced motorists, according to the National Center for Statistics and Analysis.

LaHood said the administration would push states to pass laws against distracted driving, especially for school bus drivers. The department will also seek a new rule to revoke commercial drivers' licenses for school bus drivers convicted of texting while driving.