The Obama administration will convene a summit in September to find solutions to the persistent practice of sending text messages while driving, Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood said on Tuesday. Many states have adopted laws prohibiting all or certain kinds of cell phone use while driving.

"If it were up to me, I would ban drivers from texting, but unfortunately, laws aren't always enough," said Sec. LaHood. "We've learned from past safety awareness campaigns that it takes a coordinated strategy combining education and enforcement to get results. That's why this meeting with experienced officials, experts and law enforcement will be such a crucial first step in our efforts to put an end to distracted driving."

A total of 16 states and the District of Columbia have bans against texting while driving for all drivers, with the one in New Hampshire to take effect on the first day of 2010. All types of cell phone use by novice drivers are prohibited in 20 states and D.C., while school bus drivers in 16 states and the nation's capital are not allowed to use their cell phones in any way while working.

LaHood in his announcement underscored some of the accidents caused by texting while driving, including last year's commuter train collision in California that killed 25 people and wounded 135 others.

The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) has not declared its full support for a complete ban on cell phone use while driving, citing difficulties to enforcing such laws. But the association's chairman, Vernon F. Betkey Jr., said last Wednesday the GHSA would eventually support a complete ban if effective enforcement approaches were developed.

Betkey's statement came the same week after the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute said its study on distracted driving had found texting increased risks of a collision or near miss 23 times for truck drivers.