States including Pennsylvania are making headway in a multifaceted campaign against distracted driving, according to a new national study.

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Read the Governors Highway Safety Association report on distracted driving.

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With technology serving up more and more lures to motorists' attention, states are combining education and enforcement in an effort to keep drivers focused on the road, the Governors Highway Safety Association reported today.

Twenty-eight states have enacted bans on text-messaging while driving and seven states, plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands, have banned hand-held cell phone use by drivers.

Although Pennsylvania has enacted no laws to curb distracted driving, the state "is doing a lot of the right things" to raise awareness and educate drivers, GHSA spokesman Jonathan Adkins said.

The state has made distracted driving a priority in its highway safety plan; provides educational material to teens and parents; collects data on the role of distraction in crashes; and makes distracted driving a component of driver education and the licensing exam, the association reported.

Pennsylvania's top priority should be a statewide ban on texting, Mr. Adkins said. Bills to do so have been stuck in the Legislature for more than a year.

"Education is effective to a point but there's nothing more effective than the fear of a ticket," he said.

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