WASHINGTON - Distracted driving was the hot transportation topic in the nations capital last month, with none-too-surprising revelations that driving while texting or using a cell phone is a recipe for trouble.

The risks associated with texting grabbed most of the attention (and headlines), prompting a group of Democratic U.S. senators to propose legislation that would require states to ban driving while texting or face the loss of federal highway money.

The Senate proposal came after a widely publicized study demonstrated the dangers of texting. That is, drivers taking their eyes off the road to operate handheld electronic messaging devices.

Fourteen states and the District of Columbia currently have laws that make texting while driving illegal.

"The federal government ought to pass a law banning this dangerous and growing practice to protect the millions of Americans on our nations roads. It is a matter of public safety," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who proposed the legislation along with Democrats Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Kay Hagan of North Carolina.

In a study released last month, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that when drivers of heavy trucks texted, their collision risk was 23 times greater than when not texting.

Researchers in the study said the risks of texting generally applied to all drivers, not just truckers.

The proposed Senate legislation would require states to ban texting or e-mailing while operating a moving vehicle or lose 25 percent of their annual federal highway funding. It would be patterned after the way the Congress required states to adopt a national drunken driving ban.

The transportation secretary would be required to issue guidelines within six months of the measure being signed into law, and states then would have two years to approve the bans on texting and driving.

The bill would target the activity in a moving vehicle and not prohibit a driver from texting or e-mailing in a stopped vehicle.

The Virginia Tech study of drivers text-messaging inside their vehicles showed the risk of a crash greatly surpasses previous estimates and beats out by far the dangers of other driving distractions.

The study, in which the cabs of long-haul trucks were monitored by video cameras for 18 months, found that when the drivers texted, their collision risk was 23 times greater than when not texting.

The study also measured the time drivers take their eyes off the road to send or receive texts. In the moments before a crash or near crash, drivers typically spent nearly five seconds looking at their devices enough time at typical highway speeds to cover more than the length of a football field.

Compared with other sources of driver distraction, "texting is in its own universe of risk," said Rich Hanowski, who oversaw the study at the institute.

Tom Dingus, director of the Virginia Tech institute, said the trucking studys message about texting while driving is clear. "You should never do this," he said. "It should be illegal."

Cell phone dangers

Meanwhile, a controversy flared when it was learned that federal officials have been withholding information for the past six years that indicated using hands-free cell phones while driving was as dangerous as handheld phones.

In recent years, cities and states have passed laws requiring drivers to use hands-free phones, but lacked the information the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had in studying the issue, according to Public Citizen and the Center for Auto Safety.

No state completely bans handheld and hands-free phones for all drivers, according to the Governors Highway Safety Administration.

"People died in crashes because the government withheld this information," said Clarence Ditlow, Center for Auto Safety executive director. "States passed laws and took action to restrict only handheld cell phone use, assuming hands-free cell phones use was safe."

Currently, the NHTSA website notes that "available research indicates that whether it is a hands-free or hand-held cell phone, the cognitive distraction is significant enough to degrade a drivers performance. This can cause a driver to miss key visual and audio cues needed to avoid a crash."

The Center for Auto Safety is now petitioning the NHTSA to restrict the availability of two-way communication features through in-vehicle systems while the vehicle is in motion, and is asking NHTSA to support state programs to limit use of hands-free and handheld phones by drivers.

Last year, the agency fought the Freedom of Information Act request by the Center for Auto Safety by claiming an exemption to the Freedom of Information law that allows nondisclosure of deliberative documents that pre-date policy decisions.

Public Citizen and the Center for Auto Safety argued the documents were not deliberative, but consisted of factual accounts, statements and summaries on cell use and driving.

Public Citizen attorney Margaret Kwoka said that while the Freedom of Information Act protects an agencys decision-making process, "these documents reflect facts about safety risks that the public had every right to see."

Cell phone conversation while driving creates "inattention blindness," a cognitive state that slows a drivers reaction time and limits his ability to detect changes in road conditions. NHTSA analysis found drivers using hands-free technology talk on the phone with greater frequency and for longer intervals.

The NHTSA documents are available at www.autosafety.org.