From WNYC in New York, this is On the Media. I'm Bob Garfield.

And I'm Brooke Gladstone. Maybe you've seen this public service announcement making

the rounds online. Three girls get into a car, the driver texts while driving in over

the next four minutes, it gets goring.

On Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board called for a complete ban on cell phone use by drivers.

No texting, no web surfing, no talking,

not even on a hands-free device.

The advisory is non-binding,

but states pay close attention to the NTSB.

Deborah Hursman is the NTSB's chairman. Welcome to On the Media.

Well, thank you. I'm happy to be with you.

So what percentage of people do you think drive and text?

According to a survey here in the Washington, D.C. area that was released last week by AAA,

over half of the respondents admitted to talking on their cell phone,

and over 20% admitted to texting recently.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released statistics last week

that attributed over 3,000 fatalities last year to distractions.

Was there a particular incident that sort of pushed you to do this now?

The accident that we investigated most recently involved a truck that was driven by a 19-year-old, and he had sent or received 11

texts in 11 minutes right before the multi-vehicle pile up on the interstate in Missouri.

Unfortunately, he was killed, as was another student on a school bus, and scores were injured.

In your statement, you compared changing public attitudes towards driving while texting

...