Katie Morton flipped when she found out her then-18-year-old daughter was text messaging while driving.

“My children do it, and I highly disapprove,” Ms. Morton said. “I think it’s dangerous because you’re distracted.”

Ms. Morton, of Chattanooga, thinks that much like laws requiring drivers to wear seat belts, legislation making it illegal to text message while driving would curb some of that behavior.

As the new legislative session approaches, AAA plans to begin lobbying at state and federal levels in an effort to ban text messaging while driving.

“We’re taking a very, very firm stand on that, and we want no one to be doing that,” said Pat Bridges, local spokeswoman for AAA. “It’s the most dangerous thing in the world.”

The organization also is urging the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the automobile industry and cell phone providers to identify characteristics that may minimize driver distractions, Ms. Bridges said.

“AAA believes that ... being involved in text messaging while operating a motor vehicle is an inherently dangerous act that should be made illegal,” Ms. Bridges said.

Nearly 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involve some sort of driver distraction within three seconds before the crash, according to a 2006 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. The study also found cell phone use to be one of the most common driver distractions.

The Chattanooga Police Department cannot keep statistics on the number of accidents caused by cell phone distraction since the statistic is self-reported by drivers, meaning some won’t admit to texting and driving, especially because it could harm their insurance, said Sgt. Al Tallant with the traffic division.

Police don’t stop distracted drivers unless they’re committing some other traffic violation or creating hazards on roadways, he said. He also has seen people eating, applying makeup and reading books and newspapers while driving, he said.

“If it’s to a point where it’s reckless, you can cite them for reckless driving,” Sgt. Tallant said. “It has to be to a point where you can deem it and explain it to a judge that it can be reckless.”