Four Senators pushed for a bill Wednesday to ban texting when driving, after a newly released study reiterated that drivers who text while driving.

Senators Schumer, New York, Menendez, New Jersey, Landrieu, Lousiiana, and Hagan, North Carolina, put forth the ALERT Act, with hopes to ban truck and car drivers from texting while driving.

The ALERT bill would forbid any driver from sending texts or emails while driving a vehicle and would require the Department of Transportation to set minimum standards for compliance.

If states do not enact text-banning laws within two years of the bill’s passage, they could lose up to 25% of the highway funds they receive from the government. Right now, fourteen states already legally ban texting while driving.

The bill proposal comes days after the release of the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study that found that truck drivers who texted behind the wheel were 23 times more likely to crash or almost crash as compared to undistracted drivers. The study also found that texting posed a higher accident risk than dialing, talking, listening, or reaching for a phone.

So what do you think of the ALERT Act to put an end to distracted driving? If you want to see the bill passed, let your elected officials know!

And find out how to promote safe driving in your town.