As of January 2010, 19 states, the District of Columbia and Guam have passed laws that prohibit drivers from texting.  In 4 states though, driver texting bans are secondarily enforced, which means the driver must be pulled over for another traffic offense before being sanctioned for texting while driving.
The current list includes: Alaska, Arkansas, California, [...]

While the state approved a legislation banning the use of all electronic devices – including cell phones – while driving in November 2009, government agencies are still sending out text alerts to thousands of drivers.
New Yorkers can subscribe to Notify NYC, a service that sends text messages to commuters about traffic alerts. 
Speaking to the NY [...]

In January 2010, The Oprah Show dedicated a full hour to the dangers of texting while driving.
Winfrey said that studies show people who text while driving are 8 times more likely to get in a crash than undistracted drivers.   According to recent statistics, 6,000 die and 500,000 are injured each year because of distracted driving.  [...]

The American Automobile Association is on a mission to put a nation-wide ban on texting while driving in the next 3 years.
Citing a 2008 study from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association reporting that car accidents caused by drivers who were using their cellphone while driving accounted for 5,870 fatalities and 515,000 injuries nationwide, AAA [...]

In a 2008 study, researchers compared 3 types of problematic behaviors: texting while driving, driving under the influence of alcohol, and driving under the influence of cannabis.  Their results showed that cellphone were more distracting than alcohol or cannabis while driving
According to the RAC Foundation, the reaction mechanism when texting while driving is 45.9% slower [...]

A national survey released in September 2009 showed that that 86 % of U.S. drivers believe handheld texting while driving is “very dangerous” and 93% would support a nationwide ban on texting.
It seems that even with a national ban on texting while driving, people do not think the unsafe practice would disappear.  Only 42% believe [...]

In 2009, a spokesman for the American Trucking Association told the New York Times that the trucking industry should be exempted of a legislation that would ban the use of electronic devices, including cell phones, while driving.
Clayton Boyce argued that truckers use computers to keep in touch with dispatchers and for driving directions.  Boyce said [...]