The following is a transcript of a report by Team 4 investigative reporter Paul Van Osdol that first aired May 2, 2007, on WTAE Channel 4 Action News at 5 p.m.

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Talking on a cell phone, playing with the radio or any other diversion while driving has shown to cause accident, but now, there's a new diversion experts said is just as dangerous.

Driving while text messaging has become increasingly popular, especially among teenagers. Team 4 cameras caught plenty of people doing it on local roads.

A Team 4 Investigation found that officials are doing little to stop the new, dangerous trend.

It's not against the law, but it can be deadly.

A recent study found one in five drivers and more than one-third of all young drivers send text messages while they're driving.

During rush hour on the Parkway East, Team 4 noticed a woman with her eyes on her cell phone, fingers tapping text messages in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Team 4 watched as she texted while driving all the way from Bates Street to the Squirrel Hill Tunnel.

Cameras also caught a young woman texting as she merged onto the Parkway at Oakland, sometimes using both hands to text.

Team 4's Paul Van Osdol caught up with April Austin, a North Catholic High School senior, as she arrived at her Wilkinsburg home.

Van Osdol: "Is it a concern about the safety risk when you're texting behind the wheel?"

Austin: "Yeah, but I don't do it all the time."

Van Osdol: "Do you think a lot of young people text while they're driving?"

Austin: "Probably, yeah. Even though I know it's not safe."

Man teenagers know it is unsafe.

A recent insurance industry survey found teens said texting is their No. 1 driving distraction, but they still do it, even though the consequences can be deadly.

Last September, on a road in Illinois, bicyclist Matt Wilhelm was struck and killed by a vehicle driven by a teen who was driving while downloading ring tones onto her cell phone.

"I couldn't believe it," said Gloria Willhelm, Matt's mother. "I just couldn't believe anybody would do that."

A Pittsburgh driver's education teacher, David Aites, said he doesn't know how anyone could do it.

"You've got to be totally crazy," said Aites.

Team 4 put Aites to the test, asking him to navigate a standard driver's education course while sending text messages.

He flunked.

"We try to get moving a little bit, and I'm trying to punch these buttons, and I'm not paying attention," said Aites. "I mean, I don't know how a person can do that."

There are no crash statistics on texting, because it is such a recent phenomenon, but records show accidents where cell phones were a contributing factor, either from talking or texting, have increased dramatically in western Pennsylvania from 168 in 2003 to 228 in 2005.

A 36 percent increase in just two years.

Aites said a distraction of only a second or two can turn tragic.

"In the time you look down here, grab the phone and flip it open, it can be over with," said Aites.

In a video from a federal study of distracted driving, a woman reached down to dial her cell phone as she drives down the road. A toddler on a tricycle crosses the street, and the driver just missed running her over.

Several states have taken steps to force drivers to keep their thumbs on the wheel and off their BlackBerries or cell phones.

They include New Jersey, Arizona, Connecticut and Washington, but not Pennsylvania.

In fact, the House transportation chairman said he had no idea driving while texting was so widespread.

"I'm dumbfounded to hear 30 percent of young people who drive a vehicle say they text message while they drive," said Rep. Joe Markosek. "That is frightening."

A bill to penalize distracted drivers, including texters, died in Harrisburg last year.

Markosek said he plans to push for similar legislation this year.

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